Zangetsu of the Moon
by MechaManiac
Summary: AU FIC. When 14-year-old Shingo Tsukino is approached by a talking white cat, his life takes a turn for the bizarre... and potentially dangerous. What is the secret of Princess Serenity, and why exactly do these suits of armor exist?
1. His Name is Zangetsu

**Episode 1**: His Name is Zangetsu

* * *

_The Silver Millennium... at its death. Almost all life had ended, though Metallia and Beryl had been sealed away by the might of the Silver Crystal. The cost was too high for Queen Serenity, whose only daughter, the young girl who had borne her very name, ended her own life upon the death of her lover, Prince Endymion of Earth. Placing one last wish upon the Crystal, Queen Serenity sacrificed the last of her life-force to allow the souls of those that lost their bodies to reincarnate in new bodies in the future. It was inevitable that all of the princesses would regain their power and resume their mission of guarding the Princess of the Moon, who would search for her lover once more. Thus did Queen Serenity depart from the cycle of life and death as the price for invoking the Crystal's power. This also shattered the crystal into several gem shards, which floated back down to Earth with the souls of the dead._

_This story has been told since time immemorial. However, this time was different. What Serenity could not possibly know would be that, this time, the story from here on out would take an interesting twist..._

* * *

It was a school day, and most teenagers at the age of fourteen would normally have been on their way to school; this was the Minato ward of Tokyo after all. One particular student, however, was still sound asleep. One Ikuko Tsukino knocked on said student's door in her latest attempt to wake them up.

This is where our story takes a turn for the intriguing.

"Shingo! It's past 8:00!"

"Yep, yep..." the boy mumbled as he turned in his bed. This time, however, sudden understanding forced his eyes open as he looked at his special-edition Samurai Troopers alarm clock. With a cry of shock, the boy leapt out of bed and hurriedly began to get ready for school, so close was he to being late. Running down the stairs in his school uniform, with toothbrush in mouth, he dashed past the kitchen where his mother was looking over the morning newspaper.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier, kaa-san!" he shouted out as he brushed his teeth.

"I tried to, Shingo, and you said each time that you were getting up," Mrs. Tsukino responded.

"I don't remember anything of the sort!" the schoolboy shouted as he raced to the front door.

"Wait! Shingo!" Ikuko shouted as her eldest child ran by.

"What is it? I'm in a hurry!" he exclaimed from out of sight.

"Don't you want your lunch?" the boy's mother asked as she held up a blue-clothed bento box.

The boy had a deadpan expression on his face as he slid back in the kitchen's doorway.

"Yes, thank you, okaa-san," he said in a dull voice.

Moments later, with bento in hand, he approached the front door and put his lunch down, all the better to tie up his outdoor shoes. Nabbing both schoolbag and bento in one fell swoop, he headed out with a cry of "Ikimasu~!" and ran down the street as though his life depended on it.

Yes, fellow reader, this is the beginning of another day in the life of 14-year-old Shingo Tsukino. What he could not possibly know, however, was that this seemingly innocent morning was merely the prologue to a chain of events that would change his life forever.

…

"Oh, man!" Shingo yelled out, "Why does class start so early in the morning? I mean, I'm still kind of groggy..."

This went on for quite some time until Shingo heard a little kid yell out, "Yeah! Get that cat!" Shingo had stopped right around the entrance to a parking lot. Glancing forward, he saw a group of primary school students, three at most, in a scuffle with something, and from the sound of it, they were terrorizing an animal.

"Hey!" he yelled out, "What do you think you're doing! Get away from there!" Shingo then ran forward as the brats scattered, probably not willing to stand up to someone bigger than them. As he approached the poor little creature, the straw-blonde boy noticed that it was indeed a little cat, and brilliantly white too, with a band-aid affixed to its forehead. "It's okay," he said as he picked up the cat, "I'm not gonna hurt you, neko-chan." As he spoke, Shingo's hand floated closer to the band-aid. "I'm just gonna take this off, OK?" Then, slowly, so as to avoid causing the white cat pain, he peeled it off. As soon as he did so, however, he could see why the kids had put it on in the first place: there was a golden crescent moon-like mark. Had the cat's previous owner abused it by giving it a tattoo?

In a flash, the white cat leapt out of Shingo's arms and climbed up a nearby tree. As far as the schoolboy knew, he hadn't caused the cat any sort of harm.

"Well, that was strange," he mumbled to himself. Suddenly, a large bell sounded, and Shingo started to freak out in response. "Gah! Now I'm definitely gonna be late!" he cried as he rushed out to get to school as early as possible now.

All the while, however, the white cat watched the boy leave...

* * *

"Shingo Tsukino!" a woman yelled out in a classroom at Juban Municipal Junior High School, "You're late!"

So continued this seemingly normal day as Shingo was forced to stand outside the classroom with a bucket of water atop his head as penance for his tardiness. Even though his stomach grumbled, the boy didn't even try to skip out. After all, any man worth his salt took punishment without complaint, and this case was no exception.

"Shingo," a brown-haired woman plainly said as she opened the classroom door, "you got a thirty on your test... again."

_Crud_, Shingo thought to himself, _Kaa-san's gonna be really pissed at me this time..._

* * *

"Shingo, I know that you're good at sports," one of his classmates, Naru Osaka, said during the break between homeroom and their first subject, "but if you really want to make it in the world, you need to study more." Miss Naru Osaka was the daughter of a jewelry store owner in town, and it didn't hurt that she was relatively easy on the eyes as well.

"Thanks for the support, Naru-chan," Shingo deadpanned. He knew that it was very difficult to make it as a professional athlete in Japan, but there was really nothing else he was good at.

"Hey there," said a certain bespectacled boy, who, as it happened, often sat next to Naru during class.

"Umino..." Shingo once more deadpanned. For as long as the blonde could remember, Gurio Umino had been his polar opposite in terms of abilities; he didn't have any natural physical skills, but he was the smartest student in the class.

"How'd you do on the test, Shingo? I didn't get a perfect score since I wasn't trying that hard, but I think I did well enough," the stringy boy plainly said as he held out his own paper; it had a 95.

_Just one more reason I hate this guy_, Shingo reflected on the inside. _He has to tell everyone around he's a genius._

"Getting off the topic of the grades," Naru tactfully said, "did you hear what Victory Rider did last night?"

"Victory Rider?" an interested Shingo inquired.

"Yeah, he stopped a couple of jewelry thieves that were at large," the girl plainly stated.

"Wow, really?" Shingo asked in amazement.

"Yeah!" Naru cried out in excitement, "He's really something!"

"Cool!" Shingo responded. "Uhh... who's Victory Rider?"

"Huh?" Naru asked, almost facefaulting, "You haven't heard of Victory Rider?"

"From what I heard," Umino explained from behind glowing glasses, "Victory Rider is a vigilante hero that appeared in town a couple of weeks ago. Nobody knows who he looks like since he wears a motorcycle helmet that covers his face, like those motocross guys usually do."

"Wow..." Shingo mumbled. "Guess this guy is a real hotshot in town."

"This is my own theory," Umino continued in a whisper, leaning in closer to his two classmates in a manner that befitted a conspiracy, "but I think that he's actually a government agent..."

The pair merely regarded the crackpot theorist in silence.

"Anyways," Naru said, breaking the silence, "I just can't stand jewel thieves!"

"Why?" Shingo asked, "Is it because of your mom?"

"No! I actually like jewelry! I mean, they're all sparkly, and when they do, I just..." she exclaimed, and as his friend ranted on, Shingo just could not wrap his head around the concept of a girl's fascination with shiny stones one could get by digging deep enough into the ground. Then again, Shingo wasn't a girl. "...and our jewelry store has been having a sale since yesterday! Do you guys want to look?" Naru finished, but neither she nor Shingo had noticed that Umino had scampered off already.

"Well..." Shingo started. The fact was that Shingo didn't want to see these sorts of things, but Naru just looked at him with those patented puppy-dog eyes of hers; ever since their first days as Junior High students, he just couldn't say no to them. "...I guess it wouldn't hurt. I mean, I don't really have anything to do after school this evening."

"Yay!" his friend shouted out in glee, hopping up and down.

* * *

However, neither of the two classmates could possibly know that at this very moment, the Dark Kingdom was busy re-awakening after their sealing by the accursed Queen Serenity. Of course, Queen Beryl was busy leading her subjects in a frantic search for something special.

"Have you not found the Silver Crystal yet?" she asked her assembled army.

"No, milady," they answered in a resounding chorus.

"Listen well," she called out to her loyal subjects, "our great ruler requires a large amount of energy to break her own seal and return to this realm. If we cannot obtain the Silver Crystal, then we must resort to gathering the energy of humans first." At this point, a blue flame appeared in the middle of the floor, as if expecting these words to be spoken.

"Queen Beryl," it said as a fair blonde human appeared from said blue flames. "I humbly request that you leave this task to me. I, Jadeite, shall not fail."

"And why is that?" Beryl inquired.

"Because," the man explained, "as we speak, one of my youma, Morga, is already gathering human energy for you."

"Very well," the apparent Queen of the Dark Kingdom commanded, "then I shall leave this matter to you, Jadeite."

"As you wish," Jadeite smugly smirked.

* * *

As Shingo and Naru approached the OSAP store, it was hard not to notice the huge crowd that had congregated outside. Naru simply looked as though she had never seen so many people in her family's store before, while Shingo merely had a quizzical look on his face. Upon entering said store, the first thing that caught Shingo's eye was the severe price cut on one of the more ornate necklaces. He knew that jewelry tended to be expensive, but such a drastic cut could not have been good for business. However, it looked as though the crowd, predominantly female by the sounds of it, had not noticed this basic fact; so enamored were they by the collection of fine jewelry at such a low price that they were practically glowing.

"Wow," Naru said quietly, "we've never had so much business in one day."

Thank you for stating the obvious, Naru... Shingo thought to himself.

"Thank you for always choosing us!" a somewhat amplified voice shouted; Shingo managed to pinpoint the speaker's location right in the thick of the crowd. To his utter lack of shock, it was Naru's mother, Mayumi Osaka, yelling into a makeshift megaphone. "I implore you! Try before you buy!"

"Jeez," Naru softly commented, "Mama's really getting into this."

"Maybe she's just really inspired today," Shingo replied, as the owner continued to announce that the massive sale was still on.

As the woman was yelling, however, no one could possibly know that this was no human at all. Indeed, the shape-shifter was somewhat in awe that her master's plan had worked so well. _Foolish humans_, she thought to herself, _your energy will be graciously used to help the grand master return to this world._ Yes, no one here would know until their last moments that their lives were being drained by the very stones they so idiotically decided to wear.

* * *

Unnoticed by anyone in the shadows of the world, the mass of energy had begun to collect in Jadeite's hands. _The drain is finally starting to show some results_, he thought to himself as it began to swirl with conviction, _and to think this is all thanks to the vanity and greed of the clueless humans of this era. Queen Beryl will be most pleased indeed._ Even as he mused, the orb of energy grew ever larger and brighter in intensity. "Morga," he spoke to his minion in the light, "gather more energy. Even this amount is not enough."

"As you wish," Morga quietly affirmed. Yes, things were moving along quite smoothly indeed.

"Hi, Mama!" a voice behind the seductress announced, "I'm home!"

With a large smile plastered on her face, "Mayumi" turned around to face her "daughter" and a friend of hers. "Welcome home, Naru."

"I brought a friend with me today," she stated.

"Hello," the boy said in a dull voice.

"Welcome," the "woman" responded, "Even though you're a boy, I thank you for coming. I'm sure we can find something for you, even if you may not be all that fond at first."

"Well..." Shingo nervously began.

"Still a little hesitant?" the saleswoman asked. "I know! Since you're a friend of Naru's, I'll go ahead and give you a discount!" And with that, she dragged the poor boy off before he could offer a word of protest. With Naru closely behind them, they soon found themselves looking at some fancy rings. "Now then," the elder woman pitched, "this nice little diamond ring usually sells for around 500,000 yen."

"500,000?" Shingo commented. "That sounds steep."

"Perhaps," she answered, "but for today only, this beauty is only 30,000, just for you, good sir!"

Shingo thought it over for some time, though he had come to his answer quickly enough. "No deal," he said. "Not only is that still way too expensive to buy, I'm not at all interested." At that moment, Shingo could suddenly feel the death glares of the many customers within the store. Perhaps he had struck a nerve? "Thanks for trying, but I have to get going," he added somewhat nervously as said eyes followed his journey back out the door, with flustered Naru following close behind.

"I'm sorry about that, Shingo," an apologetic Naru said to her classmate. "Maybe I should have known better. Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow in school, alright?"

"Sure," he replied. Naru then proceeded to re-enter the store, which, Shingo had reason to suspect, also served as her house. At the very least, her life was somewhat secure. His on the other hand, was in imminent danger. "Stupid test," he muttered as he pulled out the hated paper, crumpled it up, and tossed it over his shoulder.

Unfortunately for him, it turned out that the wad of paper had bounced off of someone's head.

"Littering is a crime, you know," a female voice behind him called out. Shingo froze in his tracks and turned around; the sunglasses-wearing woman had her long, black hair done up in a ponytail, and was wearing a green blazer and black shirt with white slacks... and she was looking at his discarded test. "And what's this?" she wondered. "A thirty? Someone needs to study more often, I see..."

"Hey!" the boy cried out, "I'll be taking that back now, if you don't mind, and I'll thank you to keep your nose out of other people's business!" Having already yanked the offending test out of the woman's hands, he started to walk off, but turned back around, just in case. He saw the woman just staring at the store's entrance. _Huh_, he thought to himself, _maybe she's thinking of buying herself some jewelry_,and resumed his walk.

Unseen by the spikey blonde, however, was the fact that the woman continued to stand there. Elegantly taking her sunglasses off, her blue eyes stared intently at the entrance...

* * *

On his way back home, Shingo strolled past the Crown Arcade and almost passed completely by, but doubled back upon realizing he had seen something out of place. It was a poster advertising a new game. Normally, this would not be cause for interest, but this particular game starred a hero he had only heard of this morning: Victory Rider.

_Wow_, he thought to himself, _they've already made a game based on this guy? That was certainly fast... _Continuing to stare, Shingo found himself envying the helmeted hero; after all, men like him didn't have to worry about school or tests, or even their own parents giving them hell for failing a school test.

Stealthily hiding behind another sign not too far away, the mysterious white cat continued to look at Shingo with an intense look in its eyes. Intense... and curious as well... The cat continued to watch as the boy sighed, put his hands into his pockets (as if he were preparing for the worst) and walked off.

_This shouldn't be happening_, the cat thought to himself. _Luna was supposed to be here with the child, not me. Well, I guess it can't be helped, since I can't get in contact with her. I'll have to fill in. Which means..._

"I'll be visiting you soon, Shingo Tsukino..."

* * *

EYECATCH

* * *

It turned out to be the fiasco Shingo had expected. As it transpired, Umino had already shown his own test paper to Mrs. Tsukino. As a result, Shingo had no choice but to show his paper when asked, and his mother boiled over with shock and rage upon seeing such a poor mark. Which is why the blonde boy was staring at his own (closed) front door. Making matters even worse, his little sister, Usagi, was let in without any fuss. _Well_, he ruefully thought to himself, _at least things can't get any worse._

* * *

How wrong he could have been. At this very moment, back at OSAP, all of the female customers were collapsing to the floor, physically drained as they were. Needless to say, Naru was starting to get worried.

"What's happening?" Naru asked herself. "Why are they all going faint? Mama?" No answer. "Mama?" The specter that had assumed the guise of the store's owner visibly shook with silent laughter.

"Such a grand amount of energy..." she said. "Not a bad haul, indeed..."

At this point, poor little Naru got even more scared. "Mama..." she fretfully muttered.

Upon hearing that word, the woman turned her head... all the way around to the back, like an owl perchance would, chuckling all the while.

* * *

Shingo turned on his bed. After standing silently outside the front door for a couple of hours, Mrs. Tsukino had pity on the poor boy and finally let him back in. Unfortunately for him, his little sister had also seen his abysmal test paper and her punishment was effectively ten times more cruel than anything his parents could come up with. Thus, after that horrifying experience, he decided to rest his exhausted body before working on his latest ream of homework.

As he started, however, his bedroom window opened, then closed with a clutter. Curious, Shingo turned... and found himself eye to eye with the cat he had assisted earlier that day. With a yelp of shock, Shingo fell off his bed, but quickly got back up on his knees to look at the cat again, from a distance this time. "Aren't you–" he began, but what happened next was something he never expected to happen.

"Greetings, Shingo Tsukino," it said. "My name is–"

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-" Shingo stuttered, waving his hand in front of the cat, "Begone, evil spirit!" The invocation, obviously, did not work; the mysterious talking cat was still sitting there, but it had an annoyed look on its face.

"I'm not an evil spirit," it – _he _sternly stated. "My name is Artemis, and I want you to listen to me very carefully."

"It talked," Shingo fearfully muttered, "it really talked. Tell me, how can a cat talk?"

"Well," the cat that called himself Artemis conceded, "I couldn't really access my full abilities with that bandage covering my crescent mark, so I have to thank you for getting that thing off." The cat then got up and started prowling the bed. "But that's beside the point now, because you have a mission to fulfill."

"Mission?" Shingo asked in response. "What mission?"

"A mission that no one else can do. Strange things have been happening recently, and it's your job to stop them."

"Look," Shingo stated, "even if you're not a figment of my imagination, which is probably the case, how am I gonna stop these things?"

"That," Artemis conceded, "is a very good question." The cat then closed his eyes in thought. Shingo looked away.

"**Listen well, young warrior,"** a distorted voice said, forcing Shingo to look back at Artemis. The cat's eyes were open, but they glowed an intense, pupil-less white this time. Shingo had no idea what was going on this time, forced to watch in stunned silence. **"The time has come to prepare for the fight ahead. Yell out 'Kuchirikatabira' to take the first steps down the path of destiny."**

"What destiny?" Shingo asked. "What are you talking about?"

The cat said nothing else, except, **"Yell out 'Kuchirikatabira' to take the first steps down the path of destiny."**

Shingo realized that nothing would come about by continuing to ask questions. "Fine, I'll do it if that'll shut you up." He then clenched his hands into balls and took a deep breath. "KUCHIRIKATABIRA!"

The effect was instantaneous; in a flash of light, Shingo's school uniform disappeared and was replaced by a sort of white armor plating.

"Wow..." he muttered, "all that buildup and not one kick-ass transformation sequence."

"**Do not be deceived, young warrior,"** the cat with glowing eyes spoke, **"Your strength and agility have now been increased by a factor of five, and you are now able to detect when innocents are in danger."**

"Oh, come on," laughed the armored boy. "That sounds too ridiculous to–"

"_Help! Someone! Help me!"_ a voice in his head suddenly cried out.

"What was–" Shingo began, turning his back on the mysterious cat, but the voice interrupted again.

"_Help! It's my mom!"_ it cried out again, but this time, Shingo recognized who it was calling for help.

"Naru?" he muttered. As he did so, however, Artemis yawned.

"Sorry," the cat stated, "I don't know what came over me, but I think that perhaps I nodded off and–"

"No time to explain!" Shingo cried out, so he grabbed Artemis and hopped out the window (after opening it, of course). He still didn't know what was going on here, but he knew one thing for certain: Naru was in danger, and he'd be damned if he didn't do a thing about it.

* * *

"Help me!" Naru once again cried out in the darkened store as the impersonator had begun to choke the girl. "Please, mama, stop!"

The fiend couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I'm not your mother, brat," she cruelly stated as her form twisted into that of her real identity: the youma Morga. "That woman is currently having a nice little rest in the basement. One that you'll be sharing with her very soon!" Her grip tightened.

…

Listening to the scene going on inside, Shingo had heard enough.

"I'm going in," he said, as he started to make for the door.

"**Stay yourself, warrior,"** the distorted voice said. Sure enough, one look at Artemis was enough to tell Shingo that the cat had entered the same trance as before. **"As you are now, the youma would, no doubt, certainly kill you."** This statement shocked the bold boy into silence. **"You must summon your armor if you are to stand a chance of being victorious in this fight."**

"Armor?" Shingo repeated.

"**Correct,"** the possessed Artemis confirmed. **"If you wish to save your friend's life, you need only to yell out 'Busou! Tsuki!' to the heavens."**

"Well," Shingo conceded, "you were right about this chain mail, maybe you'll be right about this, too." He then took a deep breath to prepare himself for what undoubtedly would come ahead. He then cried out, "BUSOU! TSUKI!"

As he said those words, he gathered a ball of energy, which crackled in ferocity. In his mind's eye, he saw a golden suit of armor in a sitting position. If he had any longer to see it, he would have noticed that it looked extremely similar to the Armor of Rekka from his favorite anime. With a grunt of effort, he held the ball of energy out in front of him as scrolls unfurled around his body. As they soared ever higher, Shingo continued to concentrate, and at their apex, they turned into petals of light and elegantly fell to the ground.

As they did so, some of the petals swirled around Shingo's legs, soon solidifying into armored greaves. The same thing happened to Shingo's arms, forming gauntlets. The body armor soon followed, and, with a mass of light petals in hand, Shingo lifted his right arm, and in a flash of light, they turned into a helmet, which he then placed onto his own head. As soon as he did so, a metal faceplate closed over the lower half of his face, obscuring his mouth and part of his nose from view.

…

The youma continued to choke poor Naru, who was on the verge of death. "Now," the demon crowed, "say hello to the other poor fools when they walk the path to Hell trailing you!"

"HOLD UP!" a confident masculine voice cried out.

"What?" the monster said, turning her head around to face... something obscured by the moon's light, and who or whatever it was had its back to this beast.

"There are many stories of stones that shine with brilliance," he monologued, "and of the people's happiness when presented with these, treating them as part of one's affection. Yet these stones can only shine when held up to the light of love. We call such items... jewels."

"Huh?" the creature asked in confusion. "What was that? Who are you! What's your name!"

"My name?" the figure nonchalantly asked. "Very well..." The figure then turned around, armor glistening in the light, so that he was staring the monster down face-to-face. "The light of the moon is also the light of the heart!" he cried out. "The power of the moon is also the power of the heart! I am the Samurai of Righteousness... Tsuki no... Zangetsu! And for the sake of the moon," he continued, pointing at the abomination, "I... will defeat you!"

"Heh," Morga snorted, letting go of Naru at last, "I've never heard of such a person! Awaken, my minions! Protect this humble servant of our grand master!"

With that, the people on the floor menacingly rose, zombie-like in their movements.

_Crap_, Zangetsu thought to himself, _I can't just kill these people! Gotta knock 'em out, first..._ The first zombified victim – an old lady he had seen roaming around earlier by the looks of it – came lunging at him. A hand chop to the base of her neck quickly took her out. A gut punch to another pig-tailed student knocked her out as well, while a kick to the back incapacitated another long-haired girl. Unfortunately, there were too many of them to fight at once, quickly grabbing and holding him down.

"Hey!" he cried out. "Lemme go!" No response from the zombified masses, as expected. "I said... LET ME GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Suddenly, the two crescent markings on his armor's shoulder plates began to glow, emitting a sort of supersonic wave. At that moment, Morga and her victims were forced to cover their ears. The youma stayed conscious, but her minions didn't fare as well, for they slumped to the ground, unconscious once more.

"I don't know how you managed to do that," she said, shaking her head, "but if you think I'm going to give you a second chance," she then held out her arm, directed at the samurai that had so ruined her ploy, "then you've got another thing COMING!" The arm stretched, its sharp nails aimed at Zangetsu's neck.

_Damn,_ he thought to himself, drained of energy, _why can't I move! _His entire body just wouldn't move the way he ordered it to. The nails came ever closer...

Then, a red flash, but not that of trailing blood from the samurai's jugular. Rather, a red rose was stuck in the floor, having been thrown by an unknown source. It seemed as though it was meant to prevent Morga from killing her target. Sickly, she turned her entire head around to the window. "Another interloper?" she inquired. "Who are you?"

"I am..." the shadowed figure in the window spoke, "...Tuxedo Mask!"

"Tuxedo Mask?" Zangetsu repeated in wonder. Upon closer inspection, the samurai noticed that the figure was indeed wearing a tuxedo and an obscuring eyemask under a black top-hat. What was strange about the figure was that it appeared to be a female.

"Tsuki no Zangetsu..." the female figure continued, "...it is my sworn duty to protect you at all costs."

"Protect... me?" he asked.

"Yes," the woman in the tuxedo responded. "Now, hurry! Deliver the final blow!"

"Final blow?" he posed. "What final blow?"

A strange sensation then filled his head, as though it could sense his very thoughts. **"Now is the time,"** the voice said. **"Hissatsu! Gekkou Daisharin!"**

"Hissatsu?" he wondered. Upon the uttering of that one word, the crescent-like horns that decorated the front top of his helmet detached, spinning up into the air. With a loud, _woosh_-like sound, it came back down, though it had grown to become a large crescent blade. On reflex, Zangetsu caught it. The blade glowed with light, and Zangetsu then did what came naturally and flexed his arm back, ready to launch it against his adversary. "GEKKOU... DAI! SHA! RIIIIIN!" He then flung the instrument of death at the floating creature, who could only gape at her coming demise. Morga's body bifurcated at the waist, and both halves hung eerily in the air before they crumbled to dust. The sand collected on the floor before the samurai's feet for but a moment before they disappeared into nothingness.

* * *

In the shadows, the energy Jadeite had been so eagerly collecting disappeared before he could properly send it to his mistress.

"Morga..." he muttered in disbelief, "...must have failed. But how...?" Needless to say, the man was not looking forward to reporting his own failure in turn.

* * *

Zangetsu continued to stare at the spot where the sand had vanished. A million questions swirled around in his mind. How was he able to do what he did this night? What was the voice that had whispered into his mind?

"Excellent work... Zangetsu," the woman in black called out. Zangetsu looked up at her. "Needless to say, both of us shall remember this night in the time to follow. Until we meet again!" With a swirl of her red-lined cape, she was gone. Who was she? Who was the woman that called herself Tuxedo Mask? That was yet another matter on the samurai's mind.

Meanwhile, back outside the store, Artemis came to again, with no recollection of what happened after he blacked out.

During the break between homeroom and first class in school the next day, Naru told her classmates about a dream she had concerning a monster, and of a samurai clad in golden armor that had come to save her. "It was amazing!" she cooed as she finished up.

"Wow," one of the girls listening remarked, "I had that same dream too!"

"So did I!" said another.

"How strange..." the brunette commented. "What do you think, Shingo?" No response. She made to shake his shoulder. "Shingo?"

Groggily, Shingo turned his head to look at Naru. He looked tired... more-so than usual. "Would you guys keep it down?" he requested. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Sorry, Shingo," Naru apologized. "Did you not sleep last night?"

"Something like that. Good-night," he yawned, then put his head back down and proceeded to sleep once more.

* * *

Shingo: I've only been a samurai for a short time, but these strange things just keep happening! Now it's a radio talk show that everyone's heard about. Personally, I couldn't care less about mushy stuff like this!

Artemis: But this program isn't listed in any radio schedules I've come across.

Shingo: Artemis, didn't I just say that I don't care about this program?

Artemis: Would you care if your friend Naru got a strange flower from this phantom program and it sent her into a coma?

Shingo: What'd you say? All right, now it's personal, Mr. Phantom DJ! Next time, on Tsuki no Zangetsu: "Lure of the Radio Siren!" For the sake of the moon, I'll defeat you!

* * *

A/N:

So that's my first fanfiction here on ! Where do I begin with this? Well, maybe we'll start with premise...

Premise: Well, I did watch the original DiC dub of Sailor Moon back in the day. Yes, I admit that I liked it, but it was that time when those of us that grew up back then didn't know about the show's Japanese roots. But that's besides the point. The point is that I often found myself wondering what would happen if the Sailor Scouts (or, as I prefer to call them nowadays, Sailor Senshi) were actually male for a change. I've since learned that this will probably never officially happen due to Takeuchi-sensei's rule that only women can be Sailor Senshi, but that can't stop a fanboy's childhood dream! Originally, I thought that a potential male senshi team would be like Power Rangers/Super Sentai. It wasn't until recently that I believed armored samurai, like those found in Ronin Warriors/Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, would fit the potential male senshi better. So, we have male armored samurai protecting the streets of the Minato ward in this alternate universe instead of female Sailor Senshi.

Characters: Well, seeing as how Usagi had a normal modern family with younger brother Shingo, what better fit would there be for my main protagonist than that very brother? Yes, in this AU, Shingo was born first instead of Usagi (she did become his younger sister for those wondering). Also, did any of you notice that woman Shingo ran into during the story? Those of you that are familiar with Sailor Moon will probably figure out her significance right from the start. Needless to say, she will become very important later down the road. Another important thing to note is that not every character has had their genders swapped; only the Sailor Senshi and/or those characters that need to be to make the plot flow will have made the switch. So... that's why Beryl and most of her minions remain as they were in official fiction.

Story: I admit, I watched the first subbed episode of Sailor Moon while I wrote this. I wanted to make this fic as close to a real anime as I could possibly get, and there's a reason for that. Unlike some other good writers out there, like Greg Farshtey, I mainly think in pictures, not words. That may be a problem, since many fanfics do not come with pictures. That being said, I find it easier to read fanfiction as though the pictures were coming from a television screen.

Oh, and one last thing. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! One does not grow to be a better writer if one does not have constructive criticism to work from! Therefore, I welcome any and all criticism, as long as it helps me become a better writer. And flames _will_ be shot down, but that should be apparent.

And remember... don't be a maniac... like me!

T/N:

"Kuchiriatabira" means "chain mail" when translated from Japanese into English.

"Kaa-san" is an informal form of the more formal "okaa-san", which means "mom" or "mother".

"Busso" means "equip"

"Tsuki" is the most common word for the moon itself

"Gekkou" means "moonlight"


	2. Lure of the Radio Siren

**Episode 2**: Lure of the Radio Siren

* * *

For 14-year-old Shingo Tsukino (Cancer, Type O blood, Pearl birthstone), his routine had changed for the relatively and decidedly strange. For example, he was currently hiding a stray white cat named Artemis in his bedroom. That alone would not be strange, but this particular cat had the ability to talk, had a crescent moon marking on his forehead, and would inexplicably enter a sort of trance, informing the boy of what he should do, if such things were important enough. Another strange thing was that Shingo had found himself leading a sort of double life as the gold-clad armored samurai known as Zangetsu... not that anyone outside of Naru's little grouping at school particularly knew.

Already, the boy turned samurai protector of Tokyo had clashed with his mysterious foes once more, for a mysterious fortune teller had turned some of the boys in his school, including one Gurio Umino, into deviants. Suspicious, Artemis had urged Shingo to investigate the situation further (running into the raven-haired woman once more), and together, they had discovered that the fortune teller was, in fact, another youma named Bam. Tuxedo Mask had intervened a second time during the fight that ensued, allowing Shingo to once more destroy the foul beast with his Daisharin, freeing its victims from the cards that they wore on their lapels. The next day, Umino approached Shingo and apologized for his actions, even though he had not been of sound mind. The incident had also managed to clear up some of the bad feelings the two boys had toward each other.

All of that had happened about a week after the first incident, and all Shingo could wish for was for the rest of his natural life to conclude in peace. Unfortunately, fate had other plans...

* * *

All in all, it was not a good day to be one of the Shittenoh, Jadeite had to admit to himself. He had now lost twice to the unknown interloper, and Queen Beryl had requested his presence so that he could give his report.

"Jadeite," she commanded, "what of the energy that we are to give to our great ruler?"

"Queen Beryl," he bowed, "please give us a little more time. Everything is going as planned." And indeed they were, even though the process was currently at a very slow rate. This time, he had a different strategy in mind: drain a few people at a time instead of targeting a mass of individuals in one fell swoop. He hoped that this would be enough to keep the interloper's eyes off their objective.

"Is that so? It had better work this time," the Queen warned; if this man continued to fail, then she had no qualms about silencing him forever.

"Yes," he responded. "As you know, Flowa is helping me to collect energy discreetly so as to keep our new enemy off-balance."

"Very well," she concluded, "it all rests on your hands. Make sure you remember that."

"Yes, ma'am," Jadeite affirmed, bowing before his mistress.

* * *

It was nearly midnight in the Juban district of Tokyo's Minato ward, and there were many girls staying up past their bedtimes listening to the radio. As of recently, this was not a strange phenomenon. What was strange was that a certain 14-year-old boy numbered among them this night... and it was all because a dare from his friend Naru.

_I can't believe I ever agreed to this... _Shingo thought to himself as he was listening to the radio, a comically large sweat-drop on his head.

"_'My old diary was full of you,'"_ the DJ on the program being broadcast read out, _"'And my diary is now full of the past. I want to see you.'"_

…

In her bedroom above the jewelry store, Naru listened to her radio, enraptured by the suave voice of the (no doubt) handsome DJ behind the mic.

"_'I want to see you one more time. I want to tell you my true feelings.'"_

…

Elsewhere, a certain long-haired brunette was dancing and whooping it up; after all, it was her letter that had just been read on the air!

"_This was sent to us by Haruna the Dreamer from the Juban district,"_ the DJ announced.

…

"Haruna!" Shingo cried out in shock. "As in, Haruna-sensei!" After thinking it over, however, Shingo concluded that there was no possible way that his teacher and the sender of that letter could possibly have any relation. After all, there could be more than one Haruna in the district past the one he knew.

"_We're sharing everyone's love letters on this show,"_ the DJ continued. _"For those whose letters were read, we will send you a flower brooch that makes love come true."_

"Well, that's a stupid gift," Shingo muttered to himself. "What sort of self-respecting person would want a dumb flower?"

"You know what they say, Shingo," a voice from the floor sagely said, "'_Desperate times call for desperate measures._'" Shingo took a glance at the floor, noticing the white cat sitting at the foot of his bed.

"_This has been #10 Midnight Zero,"_ the announcer said. _"I want to make your love blossom, and I'll be back tomorrow night. J-Dite, signing off."_

With a sigh, Shingo got up and turned his radio off, glad that the ordeal was over... finished.

"I better get to bed," he said, pulling over the sheets on his bed, "I don't want to oversleep later than usual."

"Which should be never," Artemis snidely added.

"Quiet, you," the spikey blonde muttered as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Kenji Tsukino was reading the newspaper when a certain article jumped out at him. Its headline read, _"Is it a new modern disease! Mysterious sleeping illness going around!"_

_Wow,_ the patriarch of the family thought to himself, _a sleeping illness that won't let you wake up once you've fallen asleep._

"I wish I could get that sleeping illness, if only because I could finally get some rest," he remarked out loud.

"What are you talking about?" his wife asked, putting breakfast on the table (Kenji had a small bead of sweat form on his forehead). "We need you to work hard!"

"I was just kidding!" Mr. Tsukino told Ikuko, nervously chuckling. "If I were asleep, I'd miss your delicious cooking."

"You're such a flatterer, dear," Ikuko responded, giggling herself. Poking her husband's cheek, he opened up his mouth to accept the fresh toast in her hands.

"GAH! I'M LATE, I'M LATE, I'M LATE!" a masculine voice cried out.

"Huh?" the father commented, his mouth still clamped onto the toast. "Shingo's still here?"

"I forgot," Ikuko replied embarrassingly.

It was then that a boy with spikey blonde hair in a blue boys' uniform dashed in, rapidly yelled "Morning, I'm heading out!", grabbed a piece of toast, and rushed out the front door, all within the space of a few seconds. The couple in the kitchen were left speechless.

_

* * *

Damnit!_ Shingo inwardly cursed as he rushed into school (taking his outside shoes off and putting his indoor school shoes on), _Haruna-sensei's really gonna let me have it for being so late!_

Rushing up the stairs, Shingo stepped into his classroom... only to find that, inexplicably, Haruna-sensei had not yet arrived.

_Huh?_ he thought to himself, _What's going on here?_ He maneuvered his body towards his desk, which was situated right next to Naru's.

"Naru," he asked his classmate, "Where's Haruna-sensei?"

"She doesn't seem to be here yet," she replied.

"Heh," Shingo chuckled to himself as he put his hands behind his head. "Lucky me."

"Strange," Umino stated as he popped out of nowhere (as was usual), "Haruna-sensei isn't usually late."

It was then that the door slid open, and a thoroughly dis-shelved Haruna-sensei shuffled in, dropping several of her books as she did so. As Shingo could only gape, he noticed that her eyes were oddly unfocused; she had a slouch to her shuffle, and she probably wasn't paying any attention to where she was going... which made several of the students jump when she almost tripped over her podium. When she yawned, nearly everyone face-faulted... except for Shingo and Naru, who could only stare at their usually strict teacher in amazement.

"Better take roll call..." she mumbled to herself as she opened the class register... and she dropped it rather quickly, revealing a strange purple flower pinned to her suit's lapel, something that only Shingo really noticed. "Actually, maybe we'd better have some self-study today," she sleepily announced, almost nodding off. No one had even noticed that the flower she wore had any significance to her increasing drowsiness. "I can't believe that I'm so... sleepy..." she yawned, stretching. She then put her head down on her desk and started to soundlessly drift off into slumber. Silence reigned in the classroom for a time.

Umino was the first one to break it. "Shingo, do you know what could be wrong with Haruna-sensei?"

"I'm a student, not a doctor!" the spikey blonde quipped. "But, man! I totally lucked out today!"

* * *

On the street, Artemis walked down to a specific location to make a report to his superior: ever since the fortune house incident, he had been given Luna's assigned duty to look after the Tsukino boy until they could sort out just what in the blue blazes had happened.

"Not that Shingo's been really helping me any," he mumbled to himself as he passed the shutter to the arcade. "He's argumentative and doesn't really take his duties that seriously. But when his friends are in trouble, I guess that goes all out the window."

Suddenly, the shutter opened, signifying the arcade being open for business. "Hey there!" a male voice shouted out, causing Artemis to look up. The man wore nice, simple work clothes with a work apron as part of his uniform. He had dirty-blonde hair and brown eyes, with a generally easy-going face; to a girl, he'd look like quite the catch. "So we meet again, kitty!" the man said to the white cat.

Artemis, surprised at meeting this man again, quickly sat, closed his eyes, and started to meow; after all, other humans weren't supposed to know that he could talk. To assume that he didn't hear anything was all the cat could hope for.

"Aren't you with Shingo today?" the man asked. All Artemis did in response was meow. "Oh, that's right," the man said in realization, "Shingo's in school right now." He then knelt down and started to pet the white cat on his head.

_Whew,_ the cat thought to himself, _I think I'm safe for now. I need to be more careful around this guy in the future. What was his name again...? Oh yeah! Motoki Furuhata!_

"There you go," Motoki told the cat. "If you wait right here and be good, I'll get you some nice warm milk." With that, Motoki went back inside to get the milk for the cute kitty.

_Wow,_ Artemis thought, _I wish Shingo would treat me to milk more often._ The cat's thoughts were disturbed, however, when an ambulance sped on past the arcade... towards Shingo's school. _What's this all about?_

* * *

The medics were rather quick to place the slumbering Haruna-sensei on a stretcher, and the students really had no choice but to watch from the window as they loaded her onto the ambulance.

"I really wonder what got into her," Umino mused.

"Yeah," Shingo added. "I mean, nothing any of us did woke her up. Is being a teacher really that draining?"

"Actually, I heard that there's a disease going around just like this," Naru stated, "where you don't ever wake up."

"I like my rest just as much as the next guy, but forever? Think I'll pass," the blonde boy stated. "I sure hope that Haruna-sensei's dreams are peaceful, though. It looks like she'll be experiencing them for the foreseeable future." The ambulance, with its precious cargo, sped off towards the hospital.

* * *

Things were starting to get even more perplexing over at station FM No. 10, as one could see in the office of a certain executive.

"Mr. President, we got more letters addressed to Midnight Zero," the man who brought the letters in reported.

"Again?" he noted with exasperation. "Why do we get so many responses for a show that doesn't even exist?"

"What should I do?" the man in the blue suit asked.

"I don't care, just put them away somewhere," the president irritably ordered.

"Right away," the underling confirmed. However, as he was about to move them away...

"I'll take care of those," a new voice announced. It belonged to a red-haired woman wearing a green business jacket with a black dress to match... and she wore a strange flower on her lapel.

"Oh, really?" the president exclaimed, with an eye behind his glasses wide open. "Thank you."

The woman merely chuckled... and as she did so, her brown eyes, unnoticed by normal eyes... momentarily flickered red.

* * *

"You gotta be kidding me, Naru," Shingo groaned as the two walked down the street. "Why do you keep writing love letters to these guys? You and I both know full well that you're not going steady with anyone else."

"Doesn't matter to them, Shingo," she responded. "As long as it's intended to be a love letter, they'll read it regardless. It can be a future lover, even!"

Shingo only sighed and sweat-dropped with beady little eyes. _Will I never understand how girls work?_ he bitterly thought to himself, not watching where he was walking. As a result, he planted his face right into a pair of perky breasts.

"Dear me, the third time already? If this keeps up, people are gonna start talking about us..." the owner of said breasts commented. Shingo looked up into the face of the Raven herself – his personal nickname for the woman that had so earned his ire. Naru stopped herself and looked into the face of the blue-eyed woman Shingo kept running into... not that she knew. "Then again," the Raven continued, "I probably wouldn't be doing any favors to my reputation by taking out a schoolboy! Oh ho ho ho!" The Raven then proceeded to walk on, continuing to laugh into her hand all the while.

"Wow, I didn't know you were into older women, Shingo," Naru noted.

"I'm not into _her_, I'll tell you that much," Shingo deadpanned.

* * *

After Shingo returned home, he saw his sister sitting at the kitchen table with her stationary laid out in front of her.

"Hey, Usagi, what are you up to?" he asked.

"I'm writing a letter," the odongo-haired girl responded.

"A letter? Don't tell me it's for Midnight Zero..." he commented.

"It's for Midnight Zero," she confirmed.

Shingo sighed. "Listen, I don't want you up all night, you do have school tomorrow," he plainly stated.

"What, and you're different?" she snottily responded.

The boy ignored her; after all, responding to her taunts was an excellent way of getting into trouble with his parents. Instead, he turned around and headed up to his room. As soon as he closed the door, he saw Artemis sitting on the bed waiting.

"Shingo, I'm starting to get a little suspicious about that radio program," the cat stated, waiting for no preamble.

"What do you mean, Artemis?" Shingo asked in response.

"Well," the cat continued, "I followed your sister down to the radio station. Apparently, she decided to go down there to meet with J-Dite for help on writing letters."

"That makes sense," Shingo commented. "After all, she doesn't really know her way around kanji yet." Well, neither did he, but Artemis didn't know that.

"Here's where things start to get strange," Artemis reported, jumping off the bed and waking towards Shingo. "The guard on duty told her that the station didn't air any program called 'Midnight Zero'."

"! ..." The gears in Shingo's head had started to turn, his chin resting upon his pointer finger and thumb with his eyes closed. "Artemis," he announced, opening his eyes once more, "it looks like we'll be listening to that program again tonight. I want you to search through the newspaper listings for radio programs and see if there's anything like Midnight Zero listed."

* * *

Later that night, with the radio on and Artemis furiously searching the newspaper listings, Shingo anxiously awaited for the moment when the clock struck midnight and the alleged "phantom program" began. _Tick... tick... tick..._ midnight.

"_Good evening,_" J-Dite announced, "_It's time for 'Midnight Zero'._"

"OK," Shingo said as J-Dite went on, his arms folded, "either that guard was lying or something seriously screwy is going on around here."

"You're telling me," Artemis responded. "I've looked all over the listings, but every indication is that there's supposed to be a different program airing at this time on FM 10."

"Great... the mystery deepens..." Shingo muttered as the suave DJ continued.

"_The first love letter we will read is from Naru of the Minato ward's Juban district,_" he announced.

"Naru..." the blonde whispered.

…

At that time, in the studio, all but the DJ and another certain woman were asleep at their posts.

"It's nice to believe in fate," the blonde man behind the glass quietly said, holding a strange flower in his left hand, the letter in his right. As he turned the flower over, Jadeite of the Shittenou smirked a menacing smirk, the rest of his face concealed in shadow.

* * *

EYECATCH

* * *

The next day at school, Naru was holding a wrapped package in her hands, courtesy of Midnight Zero; the girl was positively beaming with happiness, and her little clique had gathered around for the big reveal. Shingo, however, was watching from his desk.

"So that's the flower brooch?" one of the girls asked.

"Yep," Naru confirmed, "it arrived this morning.

"Naru, hurry up and open it!" another of the girls demanded.

Naru, waiting for this moment, opened the package, revealing the flower... and it looked very familiar to Shingo from where he could see it. _Wait a second..._ he thought to himself in realization. He got up and walked over to Naru's desk. "Naru, isn't that the same flower brooch that Haruna-sensei was wearing?"

The girls gaped at that question.

"So the letter that was from the Haruna in love was..." one of the girls started to realize.

"Haruna-sensei's..." a third finished.

"Yeah, kind of odd, isn't it?" Shingo noted.

Naru put the brooch on her uniform, ready to show it off to the world. However, unbeknownst to anyone else, said flower had begun to drain the poor girl's energy, and the effects upon Naru herself began showing immediate signs, as she began to nod off, just like Haruna-sensei had the day previously.

"I'm... awfully... sleepy..." she mumbled before closing her eyes and entering dreamland herself.

"Naru?" Shingo asked nervously.

"Hey, what happened?" one of the girls asked, waving her hand in front of the sleeping Naru's face.

"Naru, wake up!" the blonde boy demanded, shaking her shoulder. Unfortunately, the flower was still draining energy, but this time, it's draining tendencies had latched onto Shingo himself. The boy got steadily more woozy and he collapsed to the floor sleeping without noticing.

* * *

Shingo opened his eyes. Things were still a little blurry, so he blinked a couple of times to restore clarity. He was currently looking at the ceiling of the school nurse's office, and from what he could feel, he was currently laying down on a bed... and there was a small pressure somewhere on his midriff. He looked down and saw Artemis sitting on his stomach, evidently waiting for the boy to awake.

"How was your... er... nap?" the cat asked.

"..." Shingo hesitated to respond. In truth, no dreams came to him... save for one: that of a woman, blonde hair done up in odango, with sad blue eyes and wearing an ornate white dress, hands clasped in front of her chest as she waited on a balcony in the black night. "Not the best rest I've had. How long was I out?"

"Long enough that the rest of the students have gone home for the day," Artemis replied.

"And Naru?"

"She's still out of it, as far as I could tell," the white cat reported. "Her mother came by right away to pick her up."

"Well, that's just great," the boy grumbled. "Looks like she's the latest victim of these flowers. And if what I'm thinking is right, then J-Dite and Midnight Zero are somehow behind this. There are just too many connections for this to be a coincidence."

"I agree," Artemis concurred. "It looks like we need to investigate the radio station a little more in-depth."

* * *

Far from prying human eyes, energy stolen from the latest victim swirled in Jadeite's hands.

"We've gathered quite a bit now," the Shitennou's brunette accomplice stated.

"Yes, thus far the experiment has been a success," the man clearly stated. "Flowa, I never even imagined that young women with dreams of love could have so much energy. The flower brooch puts girls to sleep and absorbs their dreams of love. This invention of yours is very useful indeed. But enough of patting ourselves on the back: it's almost time for Midnight Zero."

With that, both faded out of the darkness with smirks on their faces.

* * *

Well, he certainly saw what he didn't want to see.

Suspicions growing, Shingo and Artemis immediately headed over to the radio station to investigate Midnight Zero and its connection to the strange flower brooches it had been delivering to its letter senders. Unfortunately, the guard was still on duty even as they waited for hours on end for him to leave his post.

"Alright, Artemis, it's almost time for the show to start," Shingo stated, checking his watch. "So, you mind telling me how we're supposed to sneak in now?

"Hey, don't ask me!" the cat snapped. "How was I supposed to know that the guard didn't take any breaks?"

In irritation, Shingo looked away from the cat and back to the guard post. "If we take our time sneaking in, then there's a good chance that we'll miss Midnight Zero's broadcast... is there something else I'm not thinking of?"

"**Do not be discouraged, warrior,"** a deep voice behind him stated. Sure enough, when Shingo looked back at Artemis, the white cat was in one of his trances. **"You have a power that is capable of fooling even the sharpest of eyes. Concentrate on your hand and let your body handle the rest of the motions. This power is known as Kabuki!"**

"Kabuki, huh?" Shingo repeated. "Well, I'd better give it a shot." Taking a deep breath, he started concentrating on his left hand. Streams of energy emitted from each of the fingertips. Letting his body do what felt natural, the boy ran said fingers over his face; the energy left a trail of red where it touched skin. When these red lines connected, the gaps of skin between them turned a stark white. "KABUKI!" Yelling out to the heavens, the boy struck a pose as the moon's light washed over his body. When the light receded, an older man was standing in his place, complete with narrow, framed glasses, a sharp, gray business suit with red tie, and black briefcase. The man's hair was also blonde, but also elegantly swept back.

"Alright," the man said, "just what in the hell was that supposed to be?"

"**Take a good look at your reflection, warrior,"** the voice announced. **"However, be forewarned that even this new ability is not without limits."**

The man immediately turned around and got a good look at his reflection from a nearby store window. Surprise registered upon his face as he saw what had happened. Quickly gathering his wits (realizing that he had precious little time to waste), he made haste to get into the studio. Whoever J-Dite was, the disguised Shingo Tsukino wasn't going to let them off the hook.

…

"Good evening," Jadeite announced into the mic right at the stroke of midnight, "It's time for Midnight Zero."

Unfortunately for the Shittenou, this time, someone very much unwanted was watching him and his cohort. If either of them were more observant and cautious, they would have noticed the man's face through the mixing room's door window.

_Let's see here..._ Shingo thought to himself as he observed the scene. _The blonde guy at the mic is obviously J-Dite, and the woman must be his supervisor... if that's the case, then why is everyone else out cold? Probably for one reason... these two have been hijacking this time slot for their own uses!_ With that in mind, the disguised boy threw open the door and marched on in, heedless of the woman's warnings that they were still recording.

"Our first letter this evening–" was all that the faux DJ managed to get out before the door opened and the bespectacled man sat down in front of the mic opposite.

"We apologize in advance for interrupting this broadcast. The government has recently obtained knowledge that suggests a strong connection between the recent rash of sleeping illnesses and the flower brooches handed out by the program known as Midnight Zero," the man announced.

_What?_ Jadeite visibly paled. _How did the humans' government figure out our plan?_

"We therefore urge all listeners to dispose of any brooches they or anyone else they know that have received them... immediately. I repeat, dispose of any brooches you or any acquaintances have received, immediately. When doing so, ensure that you do not come into physical contact with the brooch. That is all," the government worker concluded.

"What nonsense is this?" the man in the strange uniform yelled out, rocketing out of his chair.

"I repeat, that is all," the man in glasses repeated. Once he was sure that the broadcasting had ceased, he stood up to face the fake in the eyes. "I don't know who you think you are... but in my book, toying around with the hearts of innocent young women is strictly taboo."

"You have a lot of nerve," J-Dite growled. At that moment, the glass separating the sound room from the mixing room shattered, forcing the (fake) government worker to the ground as the woman in green-and-black dress jumped in. With an evil grin on her face, she assumed her true (monstrous) form as soon as she had both feet back on the ground.

"Don't think you'll get away with this!" the youma known as Flowa cried out. From her mouth burst a stream of flames, the force of which threw the government worker out of the recording booth (with a yelp of pain). The youma used its frightening ability again, but the man managed to recover in time to flee from the mixing room.

"**Listen well, warrior,"** a voice in Shingo's head rang out. **"While in disguise, you are not able to don your chain mail."**

_Which would be the weakness of Kabuki_, the boy-in-disguise quickly figured out.

"**You must first dismiss your guise,"** the voice continued. **"To do so, you must chant 'Kabuki Kai'."**

"Kabuki... Kai!" the man uttered. As a plume of smoke passed him, the disguise was gone and Shingo's normal appearance was exposed for all to see. Fortunately, no one else saw. "Time to get this show on the road..." he muttered to himself. "KUCHIRIKATABIRA! BUSOU! TSUKI!"

The change took but a minute, long enough that when the smoke cleared, the samurai had his back facing the blonde evildoer and his youma underling.

_Is this our interloper?_ the Shittenou thought to himself.

"There exist writings that many in this world consider sacred," the golden warrior stated. "Their purpose is to send feelings from one person to another. Yet, these writings lose their meanings when the words do not reach their chosen individual. We call such things... love letters."

"Who are you?" Jadeite demanded.

"You want to know who I am? Very well," the samurai acceded, turning around to face his enemies. "The light of the moon is also the light of the heart!" he cried out. "The power of the moon is also the power of the heart! I am the Samurai of Righteousness... Tsuki no... Zangetsu! And for the sake of the moon," he added, pointing a finger towards his foes, "I... will defeat you!"

"Nice speech," the evil boss bitterly spat. "As for me, you may call me Jadeite."

"Which means that you're the one behind this incident... and the last two!" Zangetsu deduced.

"Very good," Jadeite leered.

"Enough talk, Zangetsu!" the youma roared, "Now DIE!"

She dashed forward, intending to skewer the armored fool on her claws. Unfortunately for her, Zangetsu delivered a roundhouse kick that knocked her to the floor.

"Not here!" he demanded.

"Why not?" the youma demanded back, firing off her dreaded breath weapon once more. Zangetsu barely dodged the blow, which had created a hole in the hallway's ceiling as an unintended side-effect.

"Let's take this outside!" Zangetsu called out, then jumped up into aforementioned hole, clearly as an attempt to limit the damage. Teeth bared, Flowa followed.

No sooner than Zangetsu emerged onto the roof that Flowa had rocketed out, floating in midair. Immediately, the crone fired off her devastating weapon, forcing the golden warrior to roll to the right in response. Eyes cast skyward, he began to think. _Too high up to reasonably jump to_, he pondered as he dodged another blast by jumping onto the top of the roof's entryway. _If I'm right, this'll be my best shot..._

"Hissatsu..." he cast; once more, the horns on Zangetsu's helmet detatched and rocketed up into the sky, before coming down as an enlargened crescent blade. He reared up, even as Flowa was preparing herself for another breath beam. "GEKKOU... DAI! SHA! RIIIIIN!" he then cried, letting the now-glowing blade fly into the night, right towards the youma.

"Nice try!" she shouted, bending her body out of the blade's path. When she thought all was clear, Flowa righted herself to take another stab at the samurai. "Prepare to die!" she exclaimed, charging her attack... before hearing a strange _woosh_ sound from behind her: the glowing instrument of her demise was acting like a boomerang. By the time she heard it, it was too late; the blade had impacted her from behind, bifurcating her at the waist like the two other victims that had come before her.

Jadeite looked on in frustration; with a pitiable scream, the youma Flowa died, her body transformed into disappearing sand. All he could do was just stand there in a state of semi-shock.

"Jadeite!" a voice from behind called out. The man turned around to see Zangetsu, his Daisharin still in hand... and his righteous gaze was fixed on the wrong-doer.

"You wish to fight against me? Is that it, Zangetsu?" he snidely crowed.

"GEKKOU..." the samurai shouted once more, blade glowing alight, "DAI! SHA! RIIIIIN!"

Again, the boomerang was hurled toward its intended target...

Jadeite, however, was not some two-bit youma. With a flick of his wrist, the Daisharin eerily hovered in midair for a moment before crashing to the ground, all light gone from it. In a quick flash of light, the giant blade disappeared, the horns once more materializing upon Zangetsu's helmet.

"Damnit..." he muttered, rushing into closer quarters. In his recklessness, however, Zangetsu had not noticed (or even conceived) that Jadeite had put up a force field to protect himself. The samurai slammed into it before getting tossed back onto the ground for his pains. Jadeite walked closer to his quarry.

"Do you see now?" he lauded. "Now you see that your pitiful abilities are no match for one of the Dark Kingdom's four Shittenou!"

"Dark Kingdom?" Zangetsu wondered. "Shittenou?"

"Did you not wonder who you were fighting against?" the evil blonde scoffed as he came ever closer. "In the name of the mighty Queen Beryl, I sentence you... to death!" With murderous intent, he came ever closer... until a red rose, thrown from who-knows-where, impacted the ground in front of Jadeite's right foot. In silence, the two men regarded the majestic flower. With a nasty sneer and narrowed eyes, Jadeite leaped into the air, floating towards a portal of darkness. Said portal absorbed him in an instant before disappearing itself.

"Tuxedo Mask..." Zangetsu muttered to himself as he saw said woman gliding along in the pale moonlight.

"May we next meet again..." she called out as her image disappeared.

This sudden disappearing/reappearing act of Tuxedo Mask's continued to baffle the samurai, even though this was the third time that they had met. However, some other things had been made clear... such as the identity of his enemy, the Shittenou of the Dark Kingdom... and (by the sound of it) their ruler, Queen Beryl.

* * *

As the sun rose, all of the victims of Jadeite's latest plot had woken up; that included Haruna-sensei in her hospital bed, the regular crew out cold on the floor, and Naru in her bed at home.

_

* * *

A woman in white_

_Gazing upon the night sky_

_What do her eyes see?_

With a small flourish of his pen, Shingo finished up the haiku he had been writing up ever since he had gotten home early in the morning. Thankfully (and miraculously), he had made it to class on time, and had struggled to finish it up before Haruna-sensei's arrival. Just as he was admiring his work, he found the paper snatched away. A quick glance told the shocked schoolboy that Naru was the perpetrator.

"Shingo," she wondered, "I didn't know that you wrote love letters."

"It's not a love letter," he deadpanned, eyebrow twitching. "It's a haiku."

"Still, hard to believe that someone like you wrote poetry," Naru remarked.

"It was on a whim," he blandly revealed. "Now, please, give it back..."

"Hmmm..." she pondered in thought. "Nope!" she decided, then dashed off around the classroom with the incriminating evidence, a furiously blushing Shingo chasing her all the while.

* * *

Shingo: Things have been getting pretty interesting lately, haven't they, Artemis?

Artemis: I'm more interested in the blue-haired boy that attends your school, Shingo. They say he's a genius.

Shingo: Oh yeah, him. He must dye his hair to get it like that.

Artemis: Umm... I was talking about the fact that he's a top-tier genius, and that there's a lot of computer accidents happening lately...?

Shingo: You think...? Nah, you're just being paranoid, Artemis. Next time, on Tsuki no Zangetsu: Believe in the Sign of the Water Star! For the sake of the moon, I'll defeat you!

* * *

A/N: Aww... no reviews yet? You wound me, people... you really do.

Anyways, I will say that the woman in white will become somewhat of an obsession with young Shingo. As for what the vision means, I'm not saying what it is just yet! We also meet the black-haired woman once more, and I think that I'm writing her as a "Hooker with a Heart of Gold", as TV Tropes would put it. In any case, I won't say any more about her.

As one might have guessed, I glossed over the second incident, which was (for all intents and purposes) a filler episode. We had no real important plot information in that episode. That's probably gonna be standard operating procedure with this fic: gloss over the filler, but cover the plot-relevant stuff in full detail.

Again, no flames, but please review! Oh, and cookie to the intrepid viewer that manages to notice the small little shout-outs I placed in this chapter!

Remember, don't be a maniac... that trait is reserved for yours truly!

T/N: "Sensei", in the sense used in the fic, is a teacher


	3. Believe in the Sign of the Water Star

**Episode 3**: Believe in the Sign of the Water Star

* * *

For 14-year-old Shingo Tsukino (Cancer, Type O blood, Pearl birthstone), his routine had changed for the relatively and decidedly strange. For example, his family recently adopted a stray white cat that had taken quite a liking to the eldest child of the family. Only Shingo knew how much of a liking the cat had taken, for this one was named Artemis, and he had a crescent moon marking emblazoned upon his forehead. If that strange detail wasn't enough, the family cat occasionally entered a trance to relay truly important information... not that the rest of the family knew about this, for they had the impression that (despite the marking on his head) Artemis was just a normal cat.

Another secret Shingo was harboring from his parents was his recently-acquired double life as Tsuki no Zangetsu, and his battles against the Dark Kingdom, mainly squaring off against one of its four Shittenou (Jadeite). After their first face to face encounter, the two had met again when Jadeite was draining the life force of a certain gym's members. While Zangetsu did manage to stop Jadeite from obtaining any more energy, it wasn't a complete victory, as the Shittenou had managed to scurry off with the energy he had collected.

Later on, Shingo decided that it was time to introduce his family to Artemis at last. However, due to an incident when she was just a baby, Usagi had unfortunately obtained an irrational fear of cats, one which not even therapy had been able to purge. So desperate was she to have a different pet that, on the advice of a classmate, she purchased a strange animal known as a chanela for herself. However, this cute, fuzzy animal had a more sinister purpose: it was intended by Jadeite to drain the life energy of those unlucky enough to buy them, and those that did make the purchase fell under the thrall of yet another youma. Shingo himself almost became another victim before Artemis, suspicious, managed to free the boy. Not only was Zangetsu able to beat the youma, but Usagi's fear of cats had been forced into remission as a result of the incident, and she was noticeably nicer to Artemis from that point on.

After yet another jaunt in disguise, this time as a talent scout, he had managed to root out yet another energy-draining attempt by Jadeite using music. Soon after, another youma of Jadeite's had possessed a rather popular idol in an effort to drain the energy of those under her sway, but Zangetsu had managed to put a stop to that. However, Shingo was being run ragged by these constant Dark Kingdom attacks, and he desperately wanted a sort of ally, not unlike Victory Rider, to help lighten the load.

As the saying goes, one should be careful what they wish for...

* * *

Jadeite was starting to get a little uncomfortable as of late. Although he had managed to get some energy, the previous three attempts were total busts, no thanks to that irritating interloper. However, this latest plan of his just might work, thus Queen Beryl had summoned the Shitennou once more.

"Right now," he reported, "the children of Japan are forced to study day after day, and they are suffering."

"I have heard that there are more and more mothers that push their children mercilessly. I believe that they were called 'academic moms', or something similar," Beryl agreed.

"Their parents are desperate to send the children to the best kindergarten; the best primary school; the best junior high school; the best high school; and the best college," Jadeite continued.

"And then?" the Queen inquired. "What about after graduating from the best college? What do they do?"

"Of that," he admitted, "I am not sure. However, I am certain that we can tap into that implanted drive to succeed."

"I see... As always, I shall leave it to you," the Queen ordered.

"As you wish," the Shittenou confirmed.

* * *

Shingo Tsukino could only snicker as he read his favorite manga on the family couch. And why shouldn't he, when Roronoa Zoro had (once again) totally lost his way? One Piece was certainly one of the best stories ever written.

"Shingo!" his mother called, walking up to said couch.

"Kaa-san, you gotta check this page out!" he exclaimed, getting up and showing her the manga page in question. "Zoro's so hopelessly lost... again!"

She took a closer look, then chuckled appreciatively... before becoming stern once more. "This is no time to be laughing it up," she deadpanned. Shingo's face was immediately thereafter replaced by a giant sweat drop. "How did you do on that mock exam?"

"Oh, that? The results are coming out tomorrow," he waved off, sweat drop disappearing. "I can't believe you asked such a silly question." He then started to walk off with a nervous laugh.

"Shingo, I won't ask for the impossible," Mrs. Tsukino pleaded. "But please, just don't fail."

"You know, kaa-san," he said, turning around with beads for eyes, "there's always someone in first and someone in last, so what does it matter as long as _I_ don't come in last?"

Ikuko could only sigh at her son's behavior. "Shingo, you hardly study, yet you're always ready with an excuse," she said mostly to herself. "I just wish you'd apply that sort of ingenuity towards your studies..."

Shingo continued to stare at his mother with those beady eyes of his.

* * *

Later that night, Shingo was sitting in his room, at his desk, with a book and pencil out.

"I'm proud of you, Shingo," Artemis (who, by now, had pretty much made the boy's room his home) complimented with pride. "You're actually studying for once."

"Must be so nice to be a cat," the boy snidely replied.

"Hmm?"

"I mean, cats don't have to go to school or study," Shingo elaborated.

"Actually, I have plenty of work to do myself," said cat chided. _Like finding the princess_, he thought to himself. He then leapt onto the desk, forcing the boy to cover up his book. Unfortunately, Artemis saw what said book was anyway.

"Weekly Shonen Jump? Again?" Artemis exclaimed in exasperation.

"What? I'm a guy! I'm supposed to like this stuff!" Shingo cried out in defense.

Artemis sighed. "If you applied yourself to defending the earth like you do with... certain other pursuits, then we wouldn't be in danger from the Dark Kingdom," he quipped, eyes like beads.

"Yeah, about that... do we really know anything about these people besides the fact that they're probably the most cliché villains to ever exist?" he asked.

"Make no mistake, Shingo, the Dark Kingdom is a genuine threat that is not to be taken lightly!" the cat explained.

"Oh yeah? Then what are they after?" Shingo quipped in return.

"That's easy!" Artemis proudly announced. "It's...?"

"'It's'... what?" the boy prodded.

Artemis was silent for a good few seconds. "You know, I honestly don't remember," the cat admitted. Shingo promptly face-faulted onto his desk.

* * *

It was past midnight. The shutter door to the Crown Arcade inexplicably opened for a moment, then closed... or it would have if no one other than a certain sentient animal had been there and not understood the circumstances. Whatever had made it inside soon made its way to a glowing Victory Rider game terminal.

"Please try the Victory Rider game!" the game's announcer cheerfully requested as the animal hopped onto the provided stool.

"Code name 0087. This is Artemis," the white cat stated. He then touched the screen with his right forepaw. The game's title screen gave way to a sort of voice-print ID system. "Password: 'My name is Kamille.'"

"'Kamille? Isn't that a girl's name?'" the presence on the other side asked; in actuality, it was the second part of the password.

"'Kamille's a man's name, and I'm a man,'" Artemis concluded with the third and final part of the password. Immediately, the second screen gave way to a third, which was an indirect line of communication with the cat's superior, whoever that was.

"Have you found the princess yet?" the superior asked without preamble.

"Not yet," Artemis admitted, "I still have no clue as to where she is. I assume that Luna hasn't been located."

"Affirmative," the superior confirmed. "Remember, you must keep watch over the Tsukino boy until we locate her."

"Right," the white cat conceded. "It's just that this samurai has been doing everything the Sailor Senshi were supposed to be doing. At least the girls would be more reliable than this Zangetsu would be."

"Don't let it trouble you," the superior consoled. "We'll deal with things as they come."

"Alright," Artemis sighed. "Interestingly, I recently started to sense a strange new energy."

"Indeed?" the voice asked.

Artemis then proceeded to input some new data into the console. In a flash, a boy's image had popped up: he had blue hair and eyes, and wore the same boy's uniform that Shingo did. "This is him," the cat reported.

"I see..." pondered the voice. "He could be another youma sent in disguise by the Dark Kingdom."

"That was my line of thinking, too," Artemis agreed.

"Investigate him immediately," the superior ordered.

"Roger," Artemis acceded.

* * *

The next day, the results of the mock exam were posted on the wall for all the students of their particular year to see. Shingo could only thank his lucky stars that he was, indeed, not ranked last.

"Wow..." someone next to him gaped while they were looking at the test results. "Ayato Mizuno from Class 5 placed in first again! He's a real genius!" Shingo took a quick look again, and sure enough, he saw Mizuno's name there in black print.

…

"Mizuno's top of our class again... not that _that's_ a surprise," Naru later commented during one of their breaks between classes.

"Not only that," the rather portly girl affectionately named Pochiya elaborated, "he's also the best in the country!

"Huh?" Naru and Shingo exclaimed out loud together. "The best in the country?"

"According to the rumors," Umino (popping in out of nowhere, as usual) interrupted, "his IQ is supposedly 300."

"Yeah, that definitely sounds like a genius to me," Shingo admitted.

"Umino..." Naru shook, "don't just pop up out of the blue from such weird places!" She then proceeded to slam a fist into the top of the bespectacled boy's head, sending him to the ground. Shingo just looked away from the spectacle... only to see the boy they had been talking about.

"Hey, isn't that Mizuno?" he commented. Those present turned to look at the blue-haired boy currently standing next to one of the windows. He was, in turn, looking at the scenery outside. His eyes were colored the brilliant blue of pure water; the color of his hair was lighter than his eyes, and had two strands sticking out like antennae on his left side; finally, he had a sort of pale complexion that plainly said that he spent too much time studying.

"I heard he attends Crystal Cram School," Umino further commented.

"Hey," Shingo recalled, "isn't that the new place they just built?" He then leaned in closer, eyes like beads, in a conspiratorial manner. "I heard kaa-san say that they were expensive," he whispered.

"Well," Naru in turn whispered, "from what I heard, Mizuno's mother is a doctor."

"That would explain it," Pochiya stated. "Only doctors could bring in that much money."

"Actually, Mizuno's got a scholarship, so he doesn't even have to pay any money!" Umino exclaimed. Shingo could only look at Umino in shock.

"But he's got a bad attitude!" Pochiya claimed, then leaned in closer much like Shingo had done. "It's like he thinks he's better than everyone else..."

"I can't stand people like that!" Naru bluntly stated, and with Umino and Pochiya nodding, it seemed as though they agreed. Shingo, however, just looked back at Mizuno. Sure, he looked lonely, but the stance sure didn't seem like that of arrogance. Mizuno turned his head to look at Shingo's own group. As he did, Naru and the others got nervous and Shingo wisely changed the subject.

"Hey, guys! It's such a nice day outside, isn't it?" the blond stated out of the blue.

"It sure is!" Naru agreed.

All the while, Ayato Mizuno regarded the group of friends in almost total silence.

* * *

"It must be so nice to be a genius," Shingo muttered to himself as he walked home from school. "Kaa-san's always on my case when it comes to grades. At that very moment, a truly frightening image burst forth in his mind...

"_Shingo!" the monstrous visage of an enraged Ikuko Tsukino announced, with whip in hand. "It's about time you started going to a cram school!"_

A bead of sweat appeared on his head at the image's very existence. He then sighed and resumed his journey home. When he passed an alleyway, however, Shingo saw Mizuno walking by himself. Was he really that stuck up... or was it something else? In a moment's notice, the boy saw a white streak quickly hop onto the wall... and leap towards the genius. In shock, Shingo realized that it was Artemis, just as Mizuno turned his head towards the cat in motion. With all seriousness in place, Artemis landed on the blue-haired boy's shoulders, the cat never losing the serious edge in his eyes.

"A cat...?" Mizuno wondered as the cat remained perched over his left shoulder.

_I knew it,_ Artemis thought to himself. _There's some sort of strange energy coming from this boy._ Artemis' thoughts, however, were interrupted when the genius started to scratch the feline's chin. For a moment, he enjoyed it... but for only a moment, as he shook his head and blushed in embarrassment. _Now's not the time to succumb to petting!_ the cat mentally scolded himself.

Shingo could only look on as Mizuno continued petting Artemis.

"You're pretty soft," the genius cooed to the cat. "If only we didn't live in a high-rise apartment... then I could probably take you home as a pet." As he listened, the blonde couldn't help but notice that Mizuno's diction was clear and polite... not at all arrogant.

Shingo only sighed and made his way towards the heart-warming scene. "Artemis!" he called out. The cat's ears perked up; immediately, Artemis dropped to the ground and returned to his pseudo-owner. "Sorry about that," Shingo told Mizuno. "You OK?"

Mizuno turned around to face the blonde directly. "Are you the owner of that cat?" he asked.

"Yep," Shingo nodded in response.

"For a brief moment, I thought it was an angel instead of a cat. It came from the sky, after all," Mizuno poetically finished.

"Artemis... an angel?" Shingo wondered, confused.

"Yes," the blue-haired boy confirmed, "it was a lot friendlier than I thought."

The two then began to walk together.

"You must be Ayato Mizuno from Class 5, right?" the blonde asked. Mizuno merely nodded. "Well, then," Shingo continued, "I'm Shingo Tsukino from Class 1. Good to see 'ya."

"Oh, no," Mizuno responded, "the pleasure's all mine."

"By the way, my cat's name is Artemis, and for future reference, he's male," Shingo stated, referring to the cat now cradled in his left arm.

"Artemis?" the genius inquired. "Wasn't that the goddess of the moon in Roman mythology?"

"Nice job!" Shingo complimented. "You're the first person to get it!" Mizuno merely blushed, but was too busy looking at the ground to notice the blonde's mischievous face. _If I can get all buddy-buddy with this guy,_ he thought to himself, _he'll probably help me study for my exams..._

Artemis chose this moment to lean in closer to the boy's ear.

"Shingo," he whispered, "he could be a youma sent by the enemy, so be on your guard."

Shingo only laughed out loud, patting the befuddled cat's head playfully. "No way!" he shouted out.

"Tsukino," Mizuno inquired, "why are you laughing so suddenly like that?"

Shingo had to think fast if he wanted to keep Artemis' true nature secret. "Oh, it's nothing, just remembering a joke I heard," he lied, covering the cat's mouth for good measure. "By the way, Mizuno, do you play video games often?"

"No," he confessed, "I've never even tried one."

"Then allow me to educate you in the joys of fast reflex action," the blonde offered. _In exchange for helping me pass my exams,_ he inwardly schemed, before the cat angrily freed his face from the boy's grasp.

"It's alright, Artemis," he assured. "I think you're just being paranoid."

Artemis continued to look at Shingo with undisguised annoyance written all over his face.

* * *

At the Crown Arcade, Shingo was seated at one of the Victory Rider game terminals, attempting to get past the first level and growing more frustrated as he kept losing lives.

"Grrrr..." he growled as he came up on his last life, his eyes oddly without pupils. Alas, his concentration failed him as the monsters slaughtered the virtual hero with no mercy. It was at this point that the words "GAME OVER" appeared on the screen. He nervously chuckled to himself as he rolled his shoulders. "I must be off my game today," he claimed in deception. "Mizuno, do you wanna give it a shot? I guarantee that you'll have fun."

"It looks... difficult..." the shy boy muttered.

"Very observant," Shingo tutored. "This game is one of the hardest ones that I know. I'd even consider it an achievement for a relative newcomer to get a score of 500 on their first try." Shingo got up off of his stool, and (after a moment) Mizuno sat down on said stool, beginning to play. The blonde looked on as the genius got to a running start, managing to beat down the first rush of enemies. "Good job so far!" he encouraged. "You're not too shabby."

"You think so?" Mizuno cheerfully responded. He had a content smile on his face as he continued to perform quite well. A score of 360 became 380... then leapt from 400 to 420... then jumped straight up to 820...

"Whoa! You're pretty good!" Shingo clapped as he continued to watch. 1120... 1140... 1160... 1200... 1360... 1400... and all the while, the content smile Mizuno initially had on his face was replaced with a determined frown. The score continued to increase from 6680 to 6700... 6900... 7200... Shingo started to watch in shocked awe as the score counter for Mizuno's game now read 9820... 9860... 9900... 9940... 10440! Mizuno's eyes grew more focused as the score continued to inflate from 18800 to 19200...19400... 20000...! _No way!_ the blonde thought to himself as the genius' score had increased beyond anything he could imagine. In Mizuno's hands, Victory Rider continued to leap around his enemies, possibly getting revenge for all those times the virtual hero had died at the monsters' claws. The score now read 30060.

"I can't believe it!" a voice from behind Shingo cried out. "That kid just got the high score!" Curious, Shingo took a look and got a shock, for a small and admiring crowd and been built up around what was initially only the two schoolboys.

"Hey, Shingo!" Motoki called from a gap in the crowd. "I didn't know you were here."

"Yep, here I am," Shingo greeted with a small wave of his hand. It was then that Motoki got a good look at Mizuno's game.

"Wow, he's amazing!" he observed.

"Tell me something I don't know..." the spikey blonde muttered, turning back to the genius' run with a hand to his head. _There goes my exam assistance,_ he ruefully thought to himself. A cry of shock escaped Mizuno's lips, but it wasn't because he lost the game.

"Oh my!" he said in alarm, suddenly getting up from his stool and looking at his wristwatch. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tsukino, but I have to go to my cram school!" Muscling his way through the crowd with his schoolbag in hand, Mizuno attempted to run out of the arcade, leaving his game run incomplete as a result. However, he spilled the contents of said bag as a result.

"No, I should be the one apologizing," Shingo (having muscled his way after the genius) admitted, and began to help Mizuno get the contents of his bag back together. "I didn't know that you had your cram school session today."

"Actually, I attend every day," Mizuno informed the blonde. Shingo's face soon changed to that of shock.

"E-e-every... day?" he repeated in astonishment.

"That's right," the genius confirmed. "I don't have any talent... other than studying." He then headed towards the automatic sliding glass doors, which immediately opened as described. "Thanks, I'll see you back at school," he added in farewell, running off to his cram school.

"Later, then!" Shingo called out to Mizuno. His bright face then became gloom in a hurry. "It's like we're living in different worlds," he said more to himself than anyone else. The blonde then heard the doors open once more. This time, it was Motoki coming out.

"Shingo, could you do me a little favor?" he requested.

"No problem, Motoki!" Shingo affirmed with a thumbs-up gesture. "Anything for a friend."

"Great!" Motoki said in relief. He then handed over a red disk to the boy. "I think your friend dropped this while he was hurrying out. Could you give this back to him?"

"Yeah, I think I'd better," Shingo agreed, looking at the red disk in his hand. The label revealed that it belonged to Mizuno's cram school, and it even had Mizuno's own name on it.

* * *

Students in various states of unrest soon shuffled into the Crystal Cram School as the computer class' teacher looked on, laughing to herself. "Stupid humans," she eerily said to no one in particular. "Keep studying and provide us with the plentiful energy contained within your puny minds." She then closed the blinds to her windows, intending to get back to work.

* * *

EYECATCH

* * *

In class, Ayato Mizuno was in a bind in front of his assigned computer. "Where is it?" he muttered to himself. "I know I had my disk in here earlier. Did I accidentally drop it?" He then shrugged. "Well, I don't use it if I can help it." He then began to get out his books before he felt a hand being placed on his left shoulder.

"Mr. Mizuno," a female voice from behind Mizuno greeted. He turned around to see this particular class' sensei, a brown-haired and brown-eyed woman who wore top-rim classes with golden earrings and a light green woman's business suit, complete with skirt. "I urge you to use our special Crystal Disk as an aid for your sessions," she lightly requested. "After all, you're here on scholarship, and it wouldn't do for someone of your talents to slack off, right?"

"Yes, sensei," Mizuno meekly responded.

"Remember," she said as she walked off, "we here at Crystal have high hopes for you."

Mizuno turned back to his computer, slightly worried, yet sighing in relief. "I can't believe I'm saying this," he mused to himself in a low voice, "but using that disk gives me a headache."

Back outside, Shingo and Artemis were looking at the school's sign. "'If you use our newly developed Crystal Disks,'" the blonde read off of said sign, "'even you can be a genius!' Which would mean," he continued, bringing out said disk in the process, "that this must be the disk they're talking about."

"Shingo, be careful," Artemis cautioned.

"Artemis, will your paranoia know no bounds?" the blonde boy quipped. "I'm just going to return this disk, that's all."

"Looking into cram schools, now?" a certain hated voice quipped. "I see that you've finally decided to take your studies seriously."

That very voice really pushed the boy's buttons, for it belonged to the Raven, his relentless tormentor.

"Not you again!" he cried out angrily. "Why do you have to show up at the worst possible moments?"

"How should I know?" she quipped. "Maybe it's fate that keeps bringing us together. By the by," she added, "didn't that cat just talk?"

That one observation pretty much unnerved the boy and cat: normal people should not know that Artemis could talk! Things went quiet while Shingo thought up an excuse. Then he put a big grin on his face. "Are you kidding me?" he brightly claimed. "Everyone knows cats can't talk! That's just silly!" He and the cat then jogged off before abruptly stopping. Both nervously looked back at the Raven, who was still staring at them in suspicion. Seeing no other choice, Shingo and Artemis quickly made tracks out of the woman's sight.

The two stopped when they put enough distance between them and the Raven, panting heavily.

"That was close..." Artemis sighed when no one was around. "We'd have been in big trouble if she found out..."

"Yeah..." Shingo agreed. He then got a good look of what he was holding in his right hand. "D'oh! We were in such a rush to get away that we didn't get a chance to give this disk back to Mizuno! It's all her fault!" he ranted.

"Shingo," Artemis announced, getting himself off the road (having collapsed from all that running to catch his breath), "let's use the computers at your school."

"Huh?" the boy asked. "Why?"

"I want to check out that disk," the cat explained.

Shingo then looked from his cat to the disk currently in his hand. Dubiousness was written all over his face. "You think this is suspicious somehow?" he pondered. "I'll give you fair warning right now: I don't really know my way around computers."

* * *

A white paw slipped the disk into the computer tower, which lay directly below the monitor.

"A-heh-heh," Shingo nervously chuckled in the school's computer lab. "I didn't know cats knew how to work computers..."

"What can I say?" Artemis quipped, typing away at the keyboard. "I'm just that special. Besides, most people nowadays are capable of operating these things."

"Is that so?" the blonde asked, beads for eyes. It was then that the program on the disk finally booted up, emitting a faint, yet irritating noise as it did so.

"I thought so..." the cat muttered as the program continued to run.

"The hell?" Shingo cried as he put his hands over his ears. "Why is this noise giving me such a headache?"

"_Offer the energy of your brain and knowledge to our great ruler,"_ a sinister voice announced, much to the duo's consternation, _"and become our loyal followers."_

"A brainwashing program!" the cat concluded.

"Probably Jadeite's work, I'd bet," the boy assumed.

"And I'd also assume that Mizuno is one of his youma in disguise!" Artemis asserted.

"Argh!" Shingo pulled his hair in frustration. "I can't believe a youma managed to pull one over on me!"

* * *

With no time to spare, Shingo and Artemis rushed back over to the Crystal Cram School, but both were currently hiding behind a nearby wall.

"Y'know, Artemis," Shingo stated, "somehow, I still find it kinda hard to believe that Mizuno could be a youma."

"We're already past the point of no return," the cat responded. "Remember what we went through on our way over."

Of course the boy would remember: Shingo would use his Kabuki ability, which would hopefully put him in a good disguise so that they could infiltrate (the boy had experimented with the power after it was first revealed to him, and they had found that he had no control over what disguises he'd worn) without being questioned too much. With no time to lose, Shingo concentrated on his left hand, and those now familiar streams of light began to emanate from his fingers. Running them over his face, the red lines appeared as he thrust his palm forward and shouted "KABUKI!" His body was then enveloped by light.

When said light disappeared, Shingo had apparently aged, his spikey hair having grown long to the point of framing his face, while a thin ponytail led a trail partway down his back. He was now wearing a doctor's coat over a white dress shirt with red tie, matched with white slacks and black business shoes. A stethoscope was coiled around his neck while he carried a black bag in his left hand. Finally, he wore thin glasses over his eyes, because this particular facade had poor eyesight for some odd reason.

"A doctor... Very schwank, Shingo," Artemis complimented.

"A doctor?" the boy in masquerade wonderingly repeated in his guise's reedy voice. "Well, this makes coming up with an excuse to get in easier." He then rounded the corner and ran into the cram school at top speed.

"Sorry for the intrusion!" he yelled to the receptionist. "I heard that there was a medical emergency!" Having properly fooled them, the fake doctor headed up the stairs to the computer lab. With zero hesitation, he threw open the door to said lab and stepped inside. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency!" he called out in that reedy voice. Almost as one, the students looked at the man without a medical license... but they had no life in their faces, their eyes almost white and sunken in their sockets. "Umm... I-If you can hear me, step away from your computers, now!" he nervously ordered.

"Who are you?" a voice called out; Shingo turned his head and saw that the one inquiring was Mizuno. "Please don't interrupt our studies!" the genius demanded.

The doctor's eyes narrowed. "If you're not affected like the others here," he reasoned, "then you must be the one behind all this."

"What?" Mizuno stared blankly. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't try to play dumb with me!" the disguised boy yelled out.

"Shingo," a small whisper from floor level rose; it seemed that Artemis was successful in his own infiltration. "It might be a good time for Zangetsu."

Immediately, the doctor reached into his handbag, pulling out... a small black object.

"Huh?" Mizuno cried out, recognizing it. "A smoke bomb?"

"Nice job, 'genius'," the man in glasses taunted as he threw it to the ground obscuring his personage from all in the room. "First up," he whispered from within, "to ditch this disguise. Kabuki... kai!" The keywords having been spoken, the full-body mask disappeared, revealing the boy for who he really was... if smoke hadn't already concealed his body from line of sight. "Next," he breathed, "Kuchirikatabira!" In a flash of light that went unseen, much of Shingo's body, save for his head, was now protected by what looked like a cybernetic super-suit: the chain mail that went with the armor that he was about to wear. "BUSOU!" he cried, gathering the now-familiar energy into his hands. "TSUKI!"

The smokescreen soon dissipated, revealing the golden samurai for all to see. Mizuno only looked stupefied. "No way..." he uttered almost soundlessly. It was then that a red-nailed hand clasped his mouth shut and pulled him aside.

"What the...?" Zangetsu muttered to himself.

The bespectacled woman currently holding Mizuno hostage merely chuckled. "A pleasure to meet you, samurai," she told the boy in the golden armor. "I am Garoben, the youma of knowledge!" Her body, at this point, quickly dropped the human guise, revealing her red-and-black skinned monster body for all the world to see. "This genius boy," she continued, "is going to sacrifice his brain energy to our great ruler!"

Zangetsu was silent for a moment... then turned to look at the cat below. "Guess Mizuno wasn't a youma after all," he snidely sniped.

"That's strange..." Artemis muttered.

Sighing, Zangetsu turned his back to the villain, preparing to delve into his speech.

"What are you doing?" Garoben irately asked. "Look me in the eye, coward!"

"There are people in this world that are extremely wise and intelligent," the samurai spoke, ignoring the youma's taunt. "They use their wisdom to solve conflict and bring happiness to all. We call such people... geniuses!"

"Whatever," the youma deadpanned. "I know who you are already, Zangetsu."

"Then let's get straight to the point..." Zangetsu irritatingly replied, veins somehow popping in the back of his helmet. He swiftly turned to gaze upon the evil-doer. "For the sake of the moon," he announced, pointing at the monster, "I'll defeat you!"

Garoben merely glared, apparently thinking hard. "First question!" she cried out, turning the samurai's eyes into beads (complete with sweat drop). "According to Newton, why do apples fall from trees?"

Zangetsu silently contemplated the question for a moment before chuckling out loud. "Ha-hahaha! Everyone knows that that's gravity!" he answered with an air of stating the obvious, wagging his finger.

"Correct," the youma grudgingly admitted. "Looks like you're not as unintelligent as I first assumed. Next question!"

Zangetsu closed his eyes; surely, nothing this fiend could throw at him would be all that difficult.

"Explain gravity in 50 words or less!" she demanded.

That threw him for a loop. Eyes like beads once more, he sheepishly raised his hands up to his sides in a gesture of surrender. "Eh-heh-heh... pass?"

"Too bad!" she announced in confidence. "I'm afraid that you fail, my friend!" Raising her free hand to the air, she made several test papers (complete with razor edges) fly at the off-guard samurai. Gathering his wits in time, Zangetsu dodged to the right, evading all test papers as a result.

_If I can get around behind her, then I can probably get Mizuno out to safety..._ he covertly thought to himself.

"Servants!" she ordered to the zombified horde. "Surround him! Make sure he can't get behind me!"

_What the...?_ he disbelievingly pondered. _How did she know I was gonna do that?_

Immediately, upon her command, the victimized students rose as one and, with unnatural speed, cut off all of the samurai's escape routes.

"Now that he's taken care of," Garoben mused, "I can turn my attention to you, boy!" With ferocity, she placed Mizuno's face in front of a nearby computer monitor, which glowed ominously. "It is time for you to give us the energy contained within your mind!" She watched in triumph as, though he tried to struggle, tendrils of evil energy wrapped around the genius' head... but upon contact with his skin, they dissipated into nothingness.

"What's this?" she wondered, not willing to accept what she saw. "It's not absorbing his energy? Why?" she pondered as she pushed Mizuno's face into aforementioned monitor. "Didn't you use the Crystal Disk?" Garoben demandingly inquired.

"I..." he struggled to answer. "I believe that... you don't need... fancy... gadgets... to study!"

"You little...!" the female demon uttered furiously. At that moment, however, a symbol started to glow upon Mizuno's forehead. It looked similar to the gender symbol for females, but with the addition of two small antennae on top of the circle. Such a phenomenon did not fail to escape the youma's notice. "What... what is this?" she asked in amazement, bringing the young genius' head up into full view while doing so.

Now it was Artemis' turn to notice what was going on with Mizuno. _That's..._ he realized in amazement. _The sign of Mercury! First Moon, now Mercury... what does this mean? _Luckily, having read up on the planets before the day he met Shingo, the cat already deduced what was likely to work.

"If I can't have your energy," she ruminated, throwing Mizuno to the floor, "then I'll just take your brain!"

The blue-haired boy could only look at his evil sensei in terror. "Hey! Mizuno!" a voice from the floor called out. "If you can hear me, call out 'Kuchirikatabira'! Quickly!"

Mind in disarray, Mizuno found it quite easy to listen to this confident presence. "Kuchirikatabira...!" he muttered. In a glow of light, the genius' clothing was covered by a sort of white metal plating with light-blue highlighting. Garoben, having shielded her eyes momentarily, took in the boy's new appearance.

"I don't know what that is," she ominously announced, "but I know just how to get at what I'm after!" Eyes glowing, the youma's left arm swiftly morphed into a large ax. Bringing it up into the air, she swung it down, intending to carve the strange boy into a bloody mess. Instinct took over Mizuno's body at that point, quickly moving out of the blade's intended path and getting back up on its own two feet.

"Now's your chance!" the mysterious voice yelled out. "Equip your armor with 'Busou! Suisei!'"

_That voice again...!_ Mizuno realized. _Well, if they were right once, then we'll try it again!_ Cupping his hands, he started to concentrate, unknowingly collecting energy. "BUSOU! SUISEI!" he cried, the energy continuing to build. As the crackling peaked, the image of a light-blue suit of armor with a metal fin-like ornament on its helmet emerged within his mind. With a grunt of effort, Mizuno forced the orb of energy in front of him, which cued numerous scrolls to unfurl around him. Higher and higher the scrolls traveled as the energy continued its expanse. At the spectacle's climax, the scrolls glowed and burst into sakura petals of light. As they fell, a spotlight fell upon Mizuno as he was now wearing the armor he had seen. As he opened his eyes, a metal faceplate slid down from above, obscuring all but his eyes from view. The light this show generated once more forced the youma to cover her vision. When it was over and she got a good look at the new samurai, saying that she was shocked would be a dreadful understatement.

"Who are you?" she asked in confusion.

"I am the Samurai of Trust..." the warrior clad in blue armor announced. "...Suisei no... Uzumaki! Repent for your sins," he demanded, left index finger raised, "and bathe in the cold lakes of the Water Star!"

_If the chosen warrior of Mercury is now a Samurai instead of a Sailor Senshi..._ Artemis pondered, _...then the others will have...!_

"Huh?" Zangetsu cried out while trying to fend off the mindless mob. "Mizuno is...?"

Once more, the youma let out a war cry and raised her ax to strike.

"**Summon your weapon, Warrior of the Water Star!"** a voice rang out in Uzumaki's head. **"Jumonji-Yari!"**

"Jumonji... Yari?" the blue samurai repeated, unsure. In a flash of light, a stylistic trident-like spear had appeared in Uzumaki's hands. Without thinking, he used the shaft of the weapon to block the edge of Garoben's weapon. Eyes narrowing, she retreated to seemingly formulate a better plan.

"**Do not let her gain the upper hand,"** the strange voice echoed in the Water Star's Chosen's mind. **"Concentrate... Conceal yourself with the Hiden Kasumi!"**

_That voice again!_ Uzumaki thought to himself. _What does it mean to..._ Without meaning to, the samurai had closed his eyes and concentrate on the words he had just heard. As he did so, a strange aura began to spread from the bottom of the shaft to the top tip of the middle blade. Instinctually (and with both hands), he spun the Jumonji-Yari so that its blades faced the air and the shaft was hovering inches above the floor. "HIDEN..." Uzumaki cried, raising the weapon slightly higher.

"You're mine!" the youma, silent for the longest time, dashed forward with ax ready to strike.

"...KASUMI!" the blue samurai finished, slamming the bottom of the shaft into the floor. In that instant, mist began rapidly spreading from the point of impact, obscuring the warrior from view.

"Wh... what the?" Garoben cried as the mist expanded, covering the entire room. "Where... where did he go?" The mist, which had dropped the temperature of the room, was enough to make the monster shiver with cold. "Why is it so cold?" she wondered.

As her control lapsed, her zombie-like minions (attempting to drag the golden samurai down before that point) slumped to the ground, unconscious once more. _What the...?_ was the first thought that crossed his mind at that point.

Within the mist, Garoben continued to shiver. "Damn," she cursed, unable to see even two feet in front of her. At that moment, luck finally seemed to favor the youma as the image of the new samurai had appeared to her left. "I've got you now!" she screamed in triumph ash she brought her ax-hand down upon the blue samurai's head... but sparks emitted when she had impacted said head. Too late, she realized that it was, in fact, a computer screen she had embedded her blade into.

"That was a fatal mistake," a voice from behind her said. "Now it's time for you to reap the whirlwind!" In the next moment, pain shot through Garoben's body; she looked down and saw the blades of the Jumonji-Yari protruding from her torso. Using the mist as cover and the computer monitor as a clever bit of misdirection, Uzumaki had managed to trick the youma into revealing her blind spot. As her life ebbed away, Garoben let out a pitiable groan. Her body then turned gray, dissolving into ash and spilling onto the chair and floor. All too soon, the ash itself vanished into nothingness.

The mist vanished as quickly as it had been summoned, and some of the youma's victims were starting to come around.

"Don't worry," Zangetsu assured the woozy students. "Everything's gonna be all right." He then ran over to where the new samurai, Uzumaki, was standing.

"Am I...?" he started to wonder.

"Looks like it," the voice Mizuno heard said. He finally thought to look down and saw a white cat. He recognized it immediately as Shingo's cat, Artemis. "You're the second of the samurai, Suisei no Uzumaki," the cat answered.

Uzumaki only looked at the cat in silence for but a moment. He then turned and looked at Zangetsu. "What's going on here?" he asked.

Zangetsu sighed. "Looks like we have a lot of explaining to do," he plainly stated.

* * *

"So, that's the whole gist of it," Shingo finished up on a nearby rooftop. The two samurai just couldn't talk with the victims of the latest Dark Kingdom scheme waking up, so they had retreated here and shed their armor. To say that Mizuno was shocked when he learned that the friendly blonde boy and the golden samurai were one and the same would be an understatement. "Oh, and we're sorry for suspecting that you were a youma, Mizuno."

"Please," he replied. "Ayato is fine. And it's alright. Given the circumstances, I completely understand."

"Well, guess we have an ally among us now," Shingo stated in relief. "Right, Ar-te-mis?" the blonde then stressed.

"I guess," the cat meekly replied.

_Heh,_ Shingo inwardly chuckled. _Now I can really get some study assistance from this guy, and I have a perfect excuse to do so!_

"Shingo," Ayato offered. "Together, we can stop the Dark Kingdom from getting away with more plots like these in the future." He then held out his hand.

A sweat drop on the back of his head, Shingo accepted the offer to shake hands, nervously chuckling all the while. "Yeah! Pleased to know you're on-board, Ayato!"

_With the speed his mind works at,_ the spikey blonde pondered, _I'll be lucky if I'm able to keep up with him!_

* * *

Shingo: Well, with that out of the way, we've got some peace and quiet to ourselves at–

Ayato: Shingo, have you heard about these disappearing buses?

Shingo: Poof! There go my visions of nice, relaxing downtime.

Ayato: Be serious! The rumor is that the priest at the local shrine is somehow responsible.

Shingo: You don't say... *yawn* Next time, on Tsuki no Zangetsu: "The Flame Star's Wisdom!" For the sake of the moon, I'll defeat you!

* * *

A/N: Huzzah! At last, a review! Now keep 'em coming! Anyways, to answer the lone question from SailorCopperOwl:

_I wonder who the others will be – Naru and Umino? ;D_

No, those two are pretty much only secondary characters. Naru is female, and according to the rules I've laid down, no female is capable of being a samurai. This goes back to traditional Japanese societal rules that stated that the wife's proper place was in the household, though they were allowed to fight intruders if needed. Umino, as a boy, I just can't see as being a samurai... more like being a source of information as to the going-ons in these incidents.

I'll say right now that, if they were a Sailor Senshi in canon and had no brothers (like the majority of them), they are gender-bended into males, as seen with Ami/Ayato. The name Ayato is somewhat significant; Aya Hisakawa, the seiyuu who first portrayed Ami, would eventually go on to portray Haruka Shitow in RahXephon. Haruka's love interest was the show's main character, Ayato Kamina. So, that's my own little in-joke explained.

I also had at least two people favorite this story. I like how things are developing so far! I hope that you continue your support, and if you like this story, spread the word, especially to TVTropes! Hey, you really haven't made it if you don't make it onto their FanFic index.

'til next time! All I ask is that you don't turn into a maniac and get a mob to ransack my house.


	4. The Wisdom of the Flame Star

**Episode 4**: The Wisdom of the Flame Star

* * *

For 14-year-old Shingo Tsukino, his routine had changed for the relatively and decidedly strange. For example, his family had adopted a stray white cat that had taken a liking to the eldest child of the family. This cat was named Artemis by Shingo, but that was as much as the rest of the family knew. Shingo (and his new friend, Ayato Mizuno) knew otherwise, for the cat had introduced himself to the boy much earlier. As it just so happens, Artemis could talk, which was very helpful when other people weren't around.

Both Shingo and Ayato were both chosen by some sort of entity as the protectors of the Earth, Tsuki no Zangetsu and Suisei no Uzumaki, respectively. It was common sense that the two kept their identities secret, lest their family and friends be targeted by their enemy, the Dark Kingdom (and their lieutenants, the Shittenou). After having foiled his latest plan, it seemed that the first of the Shittenou, Jadeite, attempted to drain energy through the use of bewitched clocks. Said clocks affected and skewed everyone's perception of time, except for Ayato and Artemis. Together (using a pocket computer procured by the cat from somewhere), the two managed to track down the youma responsible. This youma could manipulate time, making for a very fearsome foe. Thanks to some timely assistance from Tuxedo Mask, Zangetsu and Uzumaki were able to best the monster.

With the way things were going now, another supernatural event was going to surely happen sooner rather than later...

* * *

It was now becoming a regular occurrence for Jadeite to be summoned in front of Queen Beryl to answer for his incompetence, which greatly irked the Shittenou. In point of fact, the critique had gotten even harsher with the appearance of another Samurai. However, it seemed that he was in for a lecture from the woman this time, which was somewhat out of the usual.

"If those troublemakers that appeared on Earth get a hold of the legendary Silver Crystal, which we are looking for," she monologued, "we'll have a serious problem on our hands! Our empire is the only one who should have it. I will show no mercy to anyone who tries to hinder the march of the Dark Kingdom! Haven't you found that crystal yet?"

"My apologies, ma'am," the blonde general responded.

"You already have several failed efforts on your hands," she retorted, clearly not in the mood for his games. "However, I am gracious enough to grant you another chance, Jadeite. All you must do is gather life energy. If these 'samurai' attempt to intervene, eliminate them."

"As you wish, my Queen," the man responded.

* * *

Sirens blazed through the streets as patrol cars raced down the road. Shingo and Artemis glanced at them as they passed by. _Did something happen?_ the boy wondered to himself. As he followed them with his eyes, he noticed a certain blue-haired schoolboy... who was wearing the same exact school uniform as he was. "Hey! Ayato!" the blonde called out.

Ayato Mizuno was reading through a book, no doubt studying, when Shingo called. "Shingo, Artemis," he smartly responded.

"Nice to see you again, Ayato," the white cat responded as he bounded into the kneeling genius' arms.

"Where are you headed off to?" Shingo asked his new friend.

"My cram school," the blue-haired genius replied; ever since the mass hypnotizing incident, health officials had closed down Crystal, forcing those attending to seek other options.

"On a bus?" the blonde disbelievingly inquired.

"If it's a good one," Ayato responded, "then I'd even take a plane to attend a cram school." Ayato glanced at Shingo's face, and the genius noted that his friend's eyes looked blank. "I'm a Samurai," he sighed. "I need to study hard to gain even more knowledge and help lighten Artemis' load."

"Wow!" Artemis brightly complimented (Shingo merely sweat-dropped). "I see that you have a lot of dedication, Ayato. Let's keep it up! Then again," the white cat glared at Shingo, "compared to a certain other person that shall remain nameless..."

"If you mean me," said certain blonde boy, "you should have said so in the first place! Besides, the bus isn't here yet." However, no sooner had Shingo stopped talking that another patrol car zoomed on by. "I wonder what's got the cops on full alert..." he mused.

"Hey, guys!" a voice from behind called; Naru and a black-haired schoolfriend of hers had just arrived, which meant that all talk of the Samurais' duty had to cease. "Did you hear the rumors behind one of the local buses?" the girl with black hair asked.

"Rumors?" the blonde inquisitively repeated. "No, haven't heard any."

"Well, they say that a bus with some passengers left here just after 6:00 PM. The thing is... the bus just up and vanished with them in it," the girl explained.

"Whoa. Sounds pretty serious," Shingo commented blandly.

"It is," Naru confirmed. "You know there's a bus stop ahead called Sendaizaka Ue, right?"

"Oh yeah, where the five slopes are," the blonde schoolboy responded.

"Bingo," the brunette confirmed. "The bus that vanished had about 50 passengers on board."

"...and it's said that they disappeared around there," the raven-haired girl continued. By this point, Shingo, Ayato, and Naru were listening intensely (with the latter starting to tremble). "The police suspect that it's some sort of mass kidnapping, and they managed to keep things under wraps momentarily. However, they decided after a while to publicly release the information so that they could more openly investigate."

"In other words," Ayato summed up, "there's a 6:00 bus that's been cursed..."

"Man, talk about bad service..." the blonde quipped, though inwardly, he was starting to get scared.

"It's downright scary, that's what it is!" Naru cried out.

"That reminds me," Shingo recounted. "There's a shrine over by Sendaizaka. If I remember correctly, they sell charms to ward off evil spirits. Maybe you should buy one, Naru." _...and snag me a talisman too,_ he inwardly ruminated. _That story really gave me some bad creeps!_

"That's a great idea!" the brunette cheered. "Maybe we should all go! I heard that one of the priests that lives there has psychic powers, and his fortune-telling is extremely accurate."

"And I've also heard that their amulets really work too!" the black-haired schoolgirl added.

"A visit to the kannushi, eh?" Shingo wondered out loud. "Why not? It might be a good experience."

"Indeed. It's a shame that I'll have to miss it," Ayato groused.

"Huh? Why?" the blonde asked.

"Cram school, remember?" the genius responded. "Besides, I have an important mock exam coming up, and it just wouldn't do for me to catch a cold before I begin studying."

"Wha..." the spikey blonde paled.

* * *

The light purple of the evening sky hung over the Hikawa Shrine as crows took flight and bells slightly chimed in the soft breeze. At the prayer box, three school girls from somewhere other than Juuban were praying for good luck.

"May the boy I like also like me in return," a light-brown-haired girl requested, standing beside another girl with longer, darker brown hair and yet another with red hair. As the girls tittered once the prayers were given, a certain blonde-haired man (unnoticed by the trio) could have been seen sweeping the temple grounds. As he heard them, he turned his head as if to look... then gave a slight yet sinister smirk.

_That's it,_ the man silently encouraged. _Pray more! Fill your heart with the energy of burning desire._

…

Within an inner room of the shrine, a great fire endlessly burned in front of a 14 to 15-year-old boy with wavy black hair who was wearing a unique white upper shirt robe with red robe slacks. The boy continually waved an ounusa in front of the flames, then held the shaft horizontally before him. He returned the ounusa to the proper place, clasped his hands together and sat on a mat directly in front of the fire, his eyes closed as he meditated.

"It's coming..." he said to himself, opening his eyes once more. "Something evil is coming closer."

A crow cawed as the priest boy gazed into the burning flames.

…

As the girls continued to pray, a strange individual had somehow sneaked up behind them. "Oh, you girls are so pretty," the presence announced. The girls opened their eyes and looked to their right; they saw a little old man with a slight tan standing with a straight back. He was bald, though his uni-brow could be seen as somewhat compensating for that fact. He was dressed in a white and light-blue priest's outfit, and as if underscoring that fact, he also held an ounusa behind his back. "Wanna work part time as miko?" he asked.

The girls, eyes wide, looked as though they had never experienced this kind of interest before. Such a scene would make one wonder if the old man had sincerely beneficial thoughts in mind. Either oblivious to the girls' vacant stare or just not caring, he ventured closer to them. "Well?" he requested.

"A... All we wanted to do was buy amulets for love..." the girl with light-brown hair explained. "That's the only reason why we're here..."

The old man let out a huge laugh. "Relax!" he cried out. "I was just kidding about that job request!" He then glanced down at the golden watch he wore on his left wrist. "5:30. Excellent..." he mused, soon after apparently looking back at the girls; his eyes had been perpetually closed. "As usual, I'll perform a special ceremony for all of you, so that your prayers of love can be answered," the man announced.

Silence reigned. Then, the man abruptly began to energetically wave the ounusa in front of him, in what had to be the silliest ritual invocation that one could possibly see in Japan. "O god of flames!" he sang. "Please make sure these girls' thoughts reach their loved ones, and make their wishes come true!" The girls snapped out of their amazement and respectfully bowed as the man danced around. The ritual complete, the man held the onusa's shaft horizontally over his bald pate. "You girls are from somewhere far away, right?" he inquired, swiftly returning the onusa behind his back. "Since you're here, why not draw a fortune slip, too? Just so you know, we also sell votive paintings of horses for passing exams. Wanna buy one?"

"Thanks for the concern," the girl with light-brown hair bowed. The three then swiftly made for the exit of the shrine, excitedly talking about the strange old man who just so happened to be a priest. Behind the stone entrance, the man that had swept earlier watched as the girls left, unnoticed by anyone.

…

Once again, the old man had sensed a group at the prayer box, so he had decided to pay them a visit. "Oh, you girls are so pretty," he announced to the group, who turned to look at him.

"I hate to tell you this, pops," a certain spikey blonde deadpanned, "but I'm a boy."

"Oh, that's alright!" the man cried out. "Say, do any of you want to work part time at this shrine?" Shingo, Naru and her black-haired friend could only look on in stupefication.

"Grandfather, what are you doing?" a voice from behind the old man asked. The new arrival, another priest by the looks of it, had short, wavy black hair with amethyst eyes and ivory skin and wore an outfit resembling a miko's. If it weren't for the fact that he had a male-sounding voice, he'd have probably been mistaken for a girl. "I thought we had this discussion before," the young priest condemned, arms folded.

"Oh! Ryu!" the old man, apparently the grandfather to the comparatively taller other priest, greeted.

"There are plenty of bad rumors going on about you in the neighborhood," Ryu the priest admonished, cutting across his grandfather. "You don't need to keep perpetuating them through your actions."

The grandfather merely and sheepishly laughed.

"Wow!" Naru gasped, she and her friend blushing. "He's so cool... and so cute... I wouldn't mind being a miko if it meant being around him..."

"Yeah..." the black-haired girl agreed.

_What's he got that I don't got?_ Shingo inwardly ruminated, sweat-dropping all the while.

…

As the previous group of girls descended down the steps to the street, the sweeper had hidden himself in some nearby bushes. With yet another sinister smirk, he sent a wave of unknown invisible energy towards them. The girls gasped in shock...

…

Ryu's eyes widened as he let out a soft gasp, sensing this unknown evil force. The crows cawed in response...

…

Under the wave's influence, the girls' eyes drooped, as though they were being hypnotized into following some heinous commands.

…

"A strange aura..." the young priest announced. "Could it belong to an evil spirit?" Those in the immediate vicinity blinked a couple of times in response. Taking no heed, Ryu began to concentrate. "Try as you might to bring misfortune to our shrine," he called out, "you shall always fail as long as I am here!" He reached into the lining of his priest robes, pulling out a piece of paper. Inscribed on it were the characters for 'Akuryou Taisan'. With a yell that announced just what had been written, Ryu leapt into the air, talisman in hand... and proceeded to slap said talisman onto poor Shingo's forehead.

"Huh?" was all that escaped from his lips when he collapsed to the ground, eyes rotating in swirls.

"Shingo!" the brunette cried out in concern for her friend.

"Wha...?" a wide-eyed Ryu eeked out. "Not again..." Those were the last words the blonde heard as his world disappeared into darkness.

* * *

_When the boy next opened his eyes, he was surrounded by an unrelenting mass of black. "Well, this is odd..." he said to no one in particular... but perhaps that was because there was no one around. "Hey! Is there anyone else here?" he called out, half expecting someone else to answer. Nothing of the sort came. "Guess it was too much to hope for..." Shingo mumbled as he folded his arms. Then, quite suddenly, and without warning, a glimpse of light shimmered on the edge of his vision. He turned to face it – not knowing how he could do so, yet he did – and he saw a specter he had seen in a dream from earlier: the woman in white. Just as he recalled, her blue eyes – precisely the shade of his eyes, the boy realized – were filled with deep sadness. Her ivory skin practically shone, and her blonde hair – done up in a style resembling odongo and pigtails combined – fluttered, even though there was no wind. "Who are you?" he tentatively asked the girl._

"_Search..." she said. Shingo could tell there more words after that, but he could not hear them._

"_What was that?" he requested of the woman._

"_Search..." she cryptically repeated._

"_What do you mean by search?" the spikey blonde demanded. "Do you mean search for you?"_

"_Search..." she stated for the third time, radiating even more light. It was so overwhelming that the boy had to close his eyes to keep him from being blinded..._

He opened his eyes. Apparently, from what he could tell, he was lying on his back in a futon, which was resting on the floor.

"Shingo!" a voice from his right side called out. He turned his head to see Naru and her friend pleased with the boy's return to consciousness. He suddenly noticed a small pressure on his midriff. One quick glance told him that it was the white cat that continually stuck by his side. Shingo turned back to the two girls at his bedside.

"What happened?" he asked the two.

"I accidentally knocked you out, that's what happened," another voice explained from his left. Turning his head once more, Shingo saw Ryu the priest sitting on his knees next to the futon. "It's almost 7:30," he stated.

"I've been out that long?" the blonde boy inquired.

"Basically..." the priest confirmed, his eyes closed in shame. After a few seconds, he opened them again. "I don't believe we've been fully introduced. My name is Ryu Hino, one of the priests that work at this temple. As you could probably tell from that little exchange before things went goofy, I'm the grandson of the head priest here, Gennosuke Hino."

"Shingo Tsukino," the blonde gave in reply.

"A pleasure, Tsukino," Ryu Hino responded. "After you passed out, your friends helped carry you inside the living quarters of the shrine. This is a spare room."

"Living quarters?" the schoolboy pondered. "Does that mean you...?"

"Yes," the priest answered. "This shrine is, for all intents and purposes, my home."

"I see..." Shingo nodded. At that moment, the sliding room to the room opened, revealing a blonde man who was wearing priest robes as well.

"Sir Ryu," the man softly stated, "I have brought you water and a towel, just in case." He then placed a yellow tray next to the entrance to the hallway; on it was a pitcher of water and aforementioned towel.

"Thanks, but we won't be needing it right now. He just came around," the black-haired boy explained.

"Oh? If that will be all," he simpered, making to close the door. Unnoticed by almost anyone, Artemis had been glaring at the man ever since he had announced his presence.

_That guy..._ the white cat thought to himself. _Where have I seen someone like that before?_

Slowly, but surely, the door was closed by the strange blonde priest. As Shingo started to get up into a sitting position, Artemis leapt off of the futon's covers. Naru and her friend, on the other hand, were both blushing furiously. _I think it's obvious as to why they're all red..._ the schoolboy ruminated.

"Mr. Hino... was that man possibly your brother?" the brunette timidly asked.

"Did it even look like we were related?" said priest snapped. Upon realizing how he had phrased that, he closed his eyes once more. "I'm sorry. It's just been a rough couple of days, and my grandfather isn't helping matters."

"Yeah, I got the sense that he wasn't exactly the most trustworthy of priests," Shingo stated.

"You don't know the half of it," Ryu deadpanned. "He likes to hit on anyone regardless of gender. The other day, the man you just saw visited this shrine. My grandfather, in his 'infinite' wisdom, decided to hire him out of the blue as a live-in helper. He didn't even check to see if he was qualified."

"Oh my," Naru commented. "He sounds very... interesting."

"Well, moving on past that topic, I would like to apologize to you, Tsukino," the priest told him.

"What for? You made a mistake, nothing to apologize for," the spikey blonde responded.

"You don't understand," Ryu explained. "That wasn't supposed to happen. You see, something very strange has been going on recently. Usually, my sixth senses and prophecies are supposed to be extremely accurate, but they've been going haywire as of late."

Silence reigned throughout the room for a short time. Artemis was looking at the priest with some disbelief in his eyes. _Prophecies?_ he thought to himself. _Could it be that he's the princess? ...no, no, that sounds totally ridiculous._ Yet, even as the cat thought this, some doubt remained. Who really knew how reincarnation worked anyways? At that moment, stomping footsteps could be heard approaching the room. It soon slid open, revealing a middle-aged woman in a lavender sweater with white undershirt and purple skirt, whose black hair was done up in a bun. She looked both livid and scared at the same time.

"Excuse me!" she boomed. "Where is the head priest?"

"Ma'am," Ryu addressed to her. "Anything concerning our head priest should be directed to me. What seems to be the problem?"

"My daughter didn't come home today, and the last place that I know she was at was here at your shrine, where she bought your amulets!" she claimed, stepping into the room. Oblivious to the stares she was getting, the concerned mother pressed on. "I heard from a reliable source that your head priest performs a so-called special ceremony everyday at 5:30. Are you completely certain that he's not forcing people onto that haunted 6:00 bus?"

"Geez, I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition..." the priest snarked. "Look, the 5:30 ceremony has been offered here at this shrine since long before I arrived on its doorstep. I therefore ask that you not make any wild accusations. After all, we have already been asked these questions by the police. Since they probably have more information, why don't you take your concerns to them?" He got up and approached the woman. "Let me be completely clear: my grandfather has nothing to with these disappearances. If that is all, then please leave."

"How dare you?" the woman cried in outrage. "I come here to voice my concerns, and you turn me away just like that? Such rudeness!"

"You are the one being rude, bursting into my home without warning. Once more, I ask that you leave."

The others could only look at the argument in silence.

* * *

The next day, Shingo and Artemis had made their way to the Hikawa Shrine once more, in order to best determine what was going on.

"I don't like this, Shingo," Artemis confessed while the two had huddled in the shadows, where they wouldn't be seen by the nearby gaggle of schoolgirls at the shrine's prayer offering. "Something about this whole mess really smells."

"You think this has something to do with the Dark Kingdom?" the blonde questioned.

"Possibly. It'd probably be best to contact Ayato. After that, we'll figure out what we have to do," the cat responded.

"At this time?" Shingo inquired; it was currently almost 5:15. "I mean, Ayato's probably attending his cram school by now..."

"Shingo, the future of the world is at stake!" the cat exclaimed. "Surely this could be considered an exception!"

"Alright, alright, you made your point," the boy conceded. "I'll get in touch with him." Shingo closed his eyes and began to concentrate. After a moment's time, a golden symbol had begun glowing on his forehead. It was the character for _Jin_ or _Righteousness_. It was not long before the boy heard the word _Trust _echo in his mind; Ayato had responded.

_Ayato,_ the blond thought out, _I know that you're busy with cram school, but Artemis says this is important. You see..._

* * *

Approximately half an hour later, Shingo, Artemis and Ayato made their way over to Sendaizaka Ue, the blue-haired genius having made some sort of excuse to get out early. On the way, the two planned to board the 6:00 bus so as to find out what was happening to the missing passengers. Knowing the Dark Kingdom, if they were behind this plot, the results would not be pretty.

Arriving safely, the two boys and cat slightly took in the scenery. "So this is what Sendaizaka is like," the genius groused.

"Yeah, I've never really been here before, either," the blonde mused, since it was so far out of his usual area of activity. Turning around to his back, Shingo noticed the large group of schoolgirls lined up at the bus stop. "I guess we've found our errant schoolgirls..." he deadpanned, which caused Ayato and Artemis to look at them as well. "Didn't expect this many, though..."

"Neither did I..." Artemis remarked.

Ayato stared at them intensely, as though he were trying to see some important detail. "Take a close look, you two," he pointed out. "Aren't those charms they're carrying from the Hikawa Shrine?"

"Now that you mention it," Shingo remarked, the duo and a cat moving closer to the gaggle of girls at the stop. "Yeah, they must have prayed for love there..."

"I just don't get it," the blue-hair groused. "Why would they chase after boys when there's more important things in life, like school?"

"I've got an idea, Ayato," the blonde teased. "Why don't you do some research into the hearts of fair maidens? Then you could write a book explaining all of the weird things girls do so that boys can understand them! At the very least, I'll get a free copy out of it."

"Such fickle jokes are the mark of one who is not ready for love," the genius shot back. Shingo sweat-dropped in response, complete with beady eyes. A loud, rumbling sound soon reached the boys' ears; they turned their heads to look down the road. "That must be it..." Ayato remarked. "The 6:00 bus..." With an ominous, yet regular everyday roar, the white bus, Red 66 via Sendaizaka, swiftly came to a stop right where it was supposed to.

"I don't get it," the white cat admitted. "It just looks like your normal bus."

"I agree," the genius stated. "There must be something more..."

The folding door opened to reveal a middle-aged female bus driver with auburn hair, blue hat and gray uniform. One by one, the girls entered, as though each were in a trance. All too soon, Shingo, Ayato and Artemis were all that was left.

"It's time, Shingo," Ayato announced. As soon as the genius was about to step over the threshold, though, he stopped: his friend had not moved at all. "What's the matter?" he asked. No response came from the blonde boy. Ayato swiftly moved back to Shingo and tried to pull or push him into the bus, but the blonde simply wouldn't budge. If the genius had bothered to take a closer look at his friend's face he would have seen that the pupils had dilated in sheer terror. After a few moments, the door closed and the bus zoomed off. "Too late," the blue-haired boy muttered. "Why didn't you get on, Shingo? That was the perfect opportunity to get down to the bottom of this mess!"

"Um... well..." Shingo eeked out, twiddling his fingers with teardrops dangling from his beady eyes.

"Are you afraid of buses?" the cat asked in exasperation.

"I don't think that's it, Artemis," Ayato reasoned. "Whatever it is, it'll have to be dealt with by tomorrow. Our next best bet will be getting on that bus then."

It was at that time that the genius boy saw something... astonishing. Without any heed to the laws of physics, the bus lifted itself off the ground as it kept moving. Shingo had noticed as well and the amateur investigators watched as the floating bus drifted into some sort of vortex in the sky, whereupon it vanished from the world.

"What the...?" Shingo muttered after the bus had disappeared into the void.

"A black hole?" Ayato hypothesized in shock. "No, a fourth-dimensional space? A hole in the earth's magnetic field, maybe?"

"Whatever that was," Artemis realized, "I think it's safe to assume that the Dark Kingdom really is behind these bus-nappings..."

All of them continued to look at the spot where the bus disappeared from in shock.

* * *

In a space of its own devising, the youma (currently impersonating a bus driver) could only chuckle at yet another job well done; after all, none of the intended victims were awake nor realized their predicament... just as planned.

"Master Jadeite," she spoke to thin air, "today's operation was just as successful."

"_Girls who pray do seem to have large amounts of energy,"_ the Shittenou commented, his voice coming from all around at once. _"Remember, draw it out of them nice and slowly. We don't want them dying too quickly, after all."_

"At once," she growled, revealing her permanently perturbed eyes to no one. An evil light began to fill the bus...

* * *

EYECATCH

* * *

"Eat up, Phobos, Deimos," Ryu quietly offered his two crows as they pecked at assorted seeds in their master's hand. Yet again, another bus had gone missing for the third straight time and his fire-reading still had yet to show results. This fact had continued to frustrate the priest to no end. Approaching footsteps ended his private monologue; one glance had told him who the visitor was. "Tsukino, what brings you to our temple this time?" he requested.

Shingo and Artemis had once more returned to the shrine after school for a very specific reason. The crows, Phobos and Deimos, glared at the white cat. Naturally, as omens of death, this made Artemis flinch. "I was there last night when the bus completely vanished at 6:00," the spikey blonde reported.

"And this concerns me... how?" the priest slightly retorted.

"The schoolgirls in that particular line all had charms," Shingo revealed to Ryu with narrowed eyes. "They came from your shrine, didn't they?"

"Are you insinuating that either myself or my grandfather have something to do with this mess, just like that woman the other day?" Ryu demanded.

"No, not at all," the blonde boy denied, waving his hands in front. "I just wanted to know what you know..."

"Do you honestly think that if I had not given the police satisfactory answers that we would be here having this lovely chat?" Ryu responded in kind.

"You don't have to get defensive with me!" Shingo shouted. "Man, do you irritate your friends just as much?" Ryu averted those amethyst eyes of his from the blonde. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. "Hey, look..." Shingo said softly, holding his hand out. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"I have no friends..." Ryu flatly stated, keeping his eyes averted. "I also have no need for friends." He turned his back to the spikey blonde. "I would appreciate it now if you would leave."

"But–!" Shingo tried to protest.

"_Leave!_" the priest once more commanded. Silence reigned for a time. When he turned back around, Shingo Tsukino was nowhere to be seen. _The nerve of that boy...!_ he ruefully thought. He turned to return to the shrine when something sparkling on the ground caught his attention; it was a small coin. _What's this?_ Ryu inwardly wondered. It was a little larger than a normal yen coin. On one side was engraved a stylistic flame; the other had a male gender symbol etched with precision. An odd feeling of familiarity rose up inside of him as he flipped the coin around in his hands. After a short time, he pocketed it. _But if this belongs to me somehow,_ he pondered, _where did it come from in the first place?_

"We want to buy good-luck amulets for love!" a duet of female voices rang out. That snapped the priest out of his reverie, and forced him to look at the nearby stall, where the new hired helper was busily selling said talismans.

"Sure," he cheerfully said. "Which color would you prefer?"

"Which one?" the red-haired girl in front of the window repeated. "Umm..."

All the while, Ryu continued to look at the sale in progress. _Ever since that man came to our shrine,_ he internally narrated, _we've been selling more amulets and charms than usual... and as a result, we've __had more visitors. Still..._ He then retreated from the grounds.

…

Ryu hoped to find his answers in the Great Pyre, the bonfire that burned eternally within the shrine's inner sanctum. After following through with the regular ceremonies, he kneeled before the raging flames in another fire-reading attempt. _Still,_ he wondered, _why do the buses vanish from in front of our shrine? Why?_ The unnatural cawing of Phobos and Deimos disrupted the priest mid-rite. "Who's there?" he called out.

The door opened to reveal the man that had not but a few minutes ago been selling the charms for love to those two girls. "Your meal is ready, Sir Ryu," he simpered.

"Leave me," Ryu calmly ordered. "I cannot concentrate on my meditations."

"My apologies," he responded, and slowly but surely, he closed the door, a brief flicker of flame illuminating one of his glassy eyes.

_Those eyes of his..._ the priest ruminated. _...they're like ice... Perhaps they're the cause of my clairvoyance troubles lately?_

* * *

Back at the Sendaizaka Ue bus stop, Shingo and Artemis crouched in hiding near the massive line of girls already there.

"Hey, Artemis," the blonde whispered. "Why'd you leave that medallion for Ryu?"

"I just want to check something," the white cat replied.

"Alright, I'll bite," Shingo turned to Artemis. "What is it that you want to check?"

"Not now," Artemis pressed. "Let's just concentrate on getting you onto that 6:00 bus, Shingo."

"I know, but..." Shingo nervously began.

"Now's not the time to give into fear!" the cat cut his charge off.

Shingo dragged his pointer finger across the ground in annoyance. "Geez, things would be a lot easier if Ayato were here. What's holding him up?" he wondered aloud. Just then, however, a familiar rumbling coming from down the road disrupted his train of thought.

"That's our bus," the white cat announced.

"Wait, what?" Shingo gasped in shock. Indeed, there was no mistaking it from where they were at; it look suspiciously similar to the bus that vanished before their eyes the day previous. The spikey blonde said nothing as it drew closer.

"We don't have any choice here, Shingo!" Artemis exclaimed. "We'll have to get on this bus by ourselves!" The bus stopped right where it was supposed to, and the girls started to board when the door slid open. "Let's do it!" the cat announced, but when he turned around, Shingo was frozen stiff. "What is the matter with you, Shingo?" Artemis demanded in exasperation.

"You wanna know?" Shingo responded shakily. "Fine. That ghost story's scared me stiff, that's what."

"You mean it's such a childish notion that's got you scared stiff?" the white cat yelled. "This is no time to be a little boy! Man up!"

"Hey! Even men get scared by ghosts!" the blonde defended, even as Artemis chomped on his pants' leg and tugged. The blonde attempted to shake him off.

"I don't care!" Artemis exclaimed as he waved up and down in the air. "You are getting on that bus whether you like it or not!"

"Yeah, right! I am not getting on that bus!" the boy cried out in fear. However, it was at that moment that an odd look came over his face. "That's it... 'I' am not getting on that bus..." he shrewdly began. Managing to finally get his cat off of him, Shingo held his left arm out and began to concentrate.

"Shingo, what are you up to?" said cat wondered. It didn't take long for him to notice that familiar trails of energy began to emanate from the boy's fingertips...

…

The bus' doors were about to close...

"Wait!" a rather husky voice cried out. It belonged to what looked like a young mechanic with blue eyes; strands of blond hair poked out from the back of his white-and-blue baseball cap, while he also wore a white t-shirt with blue overall jeans and was carrying a hand bag in which a monkey wrench stuck out. Following behind him was a certain white cat. "Wait!" the mechanic cried out once more to the driver. The doors stayed open long enough to allow the human and cat in. "Sorry about this," the mechanic panted in the entrance-way. "I need to hitch a ride to your..." That was when he noticed the girls from the bus stop were all unconscious, slumped in their seats. "Ummm... did I miss something, or did company policy change without me noticing?" he quipped. The only response the female driver came up with was to close the door and apply pressure to the gas pedal. "Whoa! Don't you need me to stay behind the white line before you go?" the mechanic irately yelled, but the driver didn't seem to hear him. All too soon, the mechanic tumbled to the back on account of the bus beginning its flight. "Come on! Don't I get an in-flight movie?" the mechanic demanded, grabbing onto a metal leg that belonged to one of the bus' seats. The white cat let out what sounded like a groan.

_Shingo_, Artemis ruminated, digging his claws onto the disguised boy's pants leg, _now's not the time to be making jokes!_

...

Little else transpired as the bus vanished, much to a certain boy's terror. The blue-haired genius had seen the bus go through the strange portal, and had to assume the worst seeing that Shingo and Artemis were nowhere nearby. "Not good..." Ayato breathed. At this point, there was little he could do to help.

* * *

"O, Great Pyre!" Ryu called out. "Who is responsible for bringing misfortune upon our temple? I beseech thee!" He then formed a sign with both hands, beginning the advanced rite. "Rin!" he cried, then thereafter shifted his hands into another sign. "Pyou!" he yelled, repeating the process with more signs and words of power describing each. "Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! ...Zen!" Instantly, the flames billowed, showing the shrine itself. _Whoever it is hides within this shrine?_ he wondered in amazement. "Who?" he asked. "Who is it?" The image disappeared... revealing nothing else. Even this clue was not enough. _Is this..._ he thought in despair. _Is this... all I can do? Have I hit a brick wall?_ At that very moment, he felt a warm energy upon his chest. It came from the inner pocket of his robes, so Ryu plunged one of his hands into it: it was the strange coin he had picked up earlier, and it was now, not hot, but pleasingly warm. The coin was also giving off a faint red light, and the priest found himself, without a conscious thought, holding the coin in front of him. The coin's radiance shone upon the flame, and a new vision came out to the priest's eyes: that of a blonde-haired man with ice-cold eyes. Ryu let out a gasp of shock and realization. Gathering his resolve, he placed the coin back within his robes and left the Chamber of the Great Pyre.

He had his answer.

The question now... was why.

…

The man glanced behind him as two great oak doors swung open. Ryu Hino was standing in the entrance.

"Sir Ryu," the man simpered. "What brings you here?"

"Cut the act," the priest demanded. "I know for a fact that you're the source of the evil plaguing our shrine."

"What are you talking about?" the man asked in confusion.

"I just told you not to play dumb! The Great Pyre has told me that it was you sending those girls to who knows where. And I always trust what the Great Pyre tells me," Ryu explained. "It is time for you to reveal your true form!"

At this, the man turned to face Ryu with those ice-cold eyes of his, complete with a very sinister smirk. "So, you found me out," he said with evil dripping from his tongue. "I'll just have to send you where I sent those foolish girls!" Behind the evil impostor, a black hole opened.

"What the...?" were the only words that came from the priest's mouth before he was sucked into the void along with Phobos and Deimos, yelling in terror all the way. As he disappeared, Jadeite could only snicker and smirk at the boy's idiocy.

* * *

In a space that was surely extra-dimensional by design, a fourth bus joined the three already inside. When it stopped, the bus' door opened and a certain mechanic and white cat came tumbling out, crashing straight to the ground.

"Alright, what the hell is this place?" the mechanic irately demanded, looking around.

"I think that would have been obvious, considering that buses are hovering over our heads," Artemis retorted.

"Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious," the mechanic quipped.

The bus driver wasted no time in jumping out the bus with murderous intent, but she inexplicably soared above the duo rather than land right in front of them. The reason soon became apparent as another black portal opened, shunting the priest from the Hikawa Shrine out of it. The driver caught him in her arms and held the boy in a choke-hold, shedding her human guise as well.

"A youma!" the mechanic cried out as said monster chuckled sinisterly.

"Now might be a good time to..." Artemis began.

"Yeah, yeah," the mechanic dismissed, digging into his handbag, "don't need to tell me twice!" After a moment of searching, he pulled out what he was looking for: another smoke bomb.

"Huh?" the cat gasped in amazement. "How'd you get your hands on another one?"

"Like I would know!" the mechanic yelled as he threw the bomb to the ground, whereupon it exploded and concealed the man from view. After a few moments, the smoke cleared, revealing a man clad in golden armor... or what he looked like judging from his back, as that was the only thing the youma could see.

"In this world, there exists a service," the man in the armor monologued. "It's intent is to ferry people from location to location with little fuss and expert precision. We call this thing... public transportation!"

"Who are you?" the youma growled.

"Who am I?" the man echoed. "Very well; I'll tell you..." He then turned around revealing that he was, indeed, a samurai. "The light of the moon is the light of the heart! The power of the moon is also the power of the heart! I am the Samurai of Righteousness! Tsuki no... Zangetsu! And for the sake of the moon, I..." the samurai pointed at the monster, "will defeat you!"

"So, you finally decided to show yourself, Zangetsu," the youma growled. "I've been waiting to tear you to shreds!"

As she spoke, however, she did not notice that a symbol had begun glowing on the captive priest's head: it was the male gender symbol to those that did not know their astrology.

"That mark...!" Artemis cried out, for he had recognized it as the sign of the planet Mars.

"Let the priest go now!" the golden samurai demanded, having noticed Artemis exclamation.

"And if I don't?" the youma threatened.

Zangetsu made no other retort than to utter "Hissatsu!" The horns on his head separated from the main body of the helmet, soaring up into the sky. Soon, they came down in the form of a large, curved blade that was meant to be tossed at any enemy that was unfortunate to be targeted, aglow with light. "GEKKOU...! DAI! SHA! RIIIIN!" He tossed the blade at the foul beast, but with a smirk, she jumped up into the air, avoiding the cutting weapon. However, she could not as easily evade the two crows, whose swooping forced her to release her hostage. The blade came back around for another strike, but she managed to catch in in her clawed hand with little difficulty.

"Did you honestly think you could beat me with such toys?" she mocked.

"ENCIRCLE!" Zangetsu cried. The glowing blade morphed upon command, wrapping its new tendrils around the creature, binding it firmly; it seemed as though that the samurai had meant to entrap his enemy all along.

The priest, meanwhile, coughed to get air back into his lungs. When he looked up, he saw the samurai kneeling down in front of him. "Thanks for the rescue," he eeked out.

"You alright, Ryu?" the samurai asked in concern.

_Wait, how does this guy know my name...?_ the priest wondered. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered out loud.

"Ryu, there's no time to waste," the white cat spoke. "You need to equip your armor, pronto!"

"Huh?" Ryu boggled. "Is it my imagination, or did you just talk?"

"No time to explain!" Artemis shouted. "Yell out 'Kuchirikatabira'! Hurry!"

"Boy, you're one insistent cat," the black-haired youth sighed before standing up and taking a deep breath. "KUCHIRIKATABIRA!" he cried out; in a flash of light, Ryu's priest uniform was replaced by what looked like a futuristic jumpsuit. Unlike Shingo and Ayato's chain mail, however, Ryu's chain mail had red highlighting all over.

"Next," the white cat continued, "you need to yell out 'Busou! Kasei!' This will equip your suit of armor!"

"OK, the chain mail I get, but equipping a full-on suit of armor with a silly catch-phrase?" Ryu dubiously questioned. At that moment, however, the three heard the youma giving off a grunt of effort; they wheeled around to see her triumphantly throw off the bindings, whereupon they fell to the floor and momentarily transformed back into the Daisharin before it disappeared and reappeared in a flash of light upon Zangetsu's helmet.

"We don't have time to argue about this! Just do it!" the golden samurai demanded.

"Persistent, aren't we?" the priest snarked. Inwardly, however, Ryu knew that the only way out of their current predicament was to do as they said and hope for the best. Taking another deep breath, he started to concentrate on summoning the armor they said he would equip. "BUSOU! KASEI!" he yelled as instructed, gathering a mysterious force in his hands. As he did so, an empty suit of armor in sitting position – or, rather, the image of one – burst forth. The armor's helmet had yellow horns on the sides of its helmet, and the suit as a whole was colored in a shade of crimson. With a grunt, he forced the ball of energy in front of him as it shone a brilliant red. Immediately, all around him, scrolls appeared and started to unwind themselves around Ryu. The energy continued to crackle as the scrolls themselves ventured higher and higher above. When they could soar no longer, they shattered into slowly-falling petals of light. A spotlight then shone, and as Ryu opened his eyes, a mouthplate concealed in the helmet of the armor he was now wearing snapped shut.

The youma, having averted her eyes towards the spectacle, took a cautious look when the light show had subsided; 'shock' could not begin to describe the look etched onto her inhuman face. "Another one?" she muttered in disbelief.

"Take heed, demon! I am the Samurai of Wisdom, Kasei no Honoo!" the new samurai announced. "Prepare yourself, for I shall now exorcise you!"

Zangetsu looked shocked as well, but not as much as the youma was. "So Ryu's the third samurai?" he wondered aloud.

The youma charged with a war-cry. Ryu – no, Honoo – merely ducked as she came closer and, when she was as close to him as possible, delivered a mighty gut-punch that sent her flying backwards.

"You have already lost," he coldly stated, ironically contrasting the fire in his amethyst eyes. "Because I already know how to win." He then raised his right hand out in front of him. "Yomi!" he shouted, and a stream of flames emerged from his outraised hand, spreading to the left and to the right in a narrow line. The flames soon subsided, leaving behind an elegant, yellow archer's bow. A panel on Honoo's back then slid open, the nock and red feather visible along with the upper part of the arrow's silver shaft. Drawing it with his left hand, the red samurai slid the notch into the bow-string and pulled the arrow back, tensing the string while taking aim. When he could pull the arrow back no longer, the steel arrowhead began to glow red.

"HI..." he cried as the glowing began to get more intense. "YAAAA!" He then loosed the arrow from his fingers; as it flew towards its still struggling target, the arrow burst into flames. When the arrowhead pierced the youma's torso, time seemed to stop for a short eternity as all color was drained from the environment. But that ended all too soon as violent shades of red flared up; a raging, infernal pillar rose from the ground, her body being consumed by the searing flames in an angry roar.

…

The orb of energy dissipated in Jadeite's hands, signaling the death of another of his youma, Kigarn. He was in his Shittenou outfit once more, yet this was not a sign of victory; rather, it was one of defeat. Needless to say, Queen Beryl would not be pleased with this unfortunate change of events.

…

"And that's that," Zangetsu announced.

"Now all we need to do is to get the hell out of here," Honoo added.

The two then looked all around them, but it was Zangetsu who first noticed: "Look! The portal's shrinking!" And indeed it was, as Phobos and Deimos attempted to fly through it, the boundaries racing out of the twin crows' reach.

"It must be because of the youma's demise," the white cat hypothesized. "If we don't get out of here soon, we'll be trapped here forever... or worse..."

"Then how do we get out?" Honoo demanded.

"I don't know!" Artemis cried in frustration.

"Not good..." the golden samurai mused as he gazed upon the shrinking exit. "Not good..."

…

His hands held in a sign of concentration, the boy began to focus his energy that coursed throughout his body. _Shingo,_ he thought. _Artemis. Everyone, please... come back..._ A faint blue glow swam across his body, and the kanji _Shin_, or Trust, radiated from Ayato Mizuno's forehead.

…

At that precise moment, a twinkle of light shone in the center of the portal. As said twinkle descended, it emitted a pillar of blue light, keeping the exit from closing.

"This light..." the golden samurai mused. "Looks like Ayato's giving us a hand..."

"I doubt that he can keep it up for long," Artemis assumed.

"That's where I come in!" a female voice from nowhere announced.

A honking bus horn forced the trio to look up: gazing upon them was Tuxedo Mask, who had somehow managed to enter this extra-dimensional space and commandeered a bus. The aforementioned bus was also seen towing the other buses that had gone missing during this incident. "If you climb aboard, I'll give you a lift!" she called out.

"Nice timing, Tuxedo Mask!" Zangetsu praised. "Come on, it's time we weren't here," he told the other two.

_Tuxedo Mask..._ Honoo thought to himself. _She may dress like a bachelor, but there's something about her that exudes true beauty..._

The three then hopped into the lead bus, which proceeded through the portal along with the buses it was dragging behind it.

…

As soon as he heard a honking horn, Ayato opened his eyes. In the lead vehicle's windshield, he saw Tuxedo Mask, Zangetsu, and a new samurai clad in red armor. _They did it!_ Was the thought that echoed through his mind as the golden samurai merely waved.

…

Jadeite was watching as all of the buses he had purloined touched the ground. While he was not able to see into that pocket dimension, he was able to sense what was going on. That dread feeling was confirmed when a figure clad in crimson steel stepped out along with Zangetsu. The new warrior could have been that priest he had disposed of, but then again, perhaps not. It did not matter at this point. _Hmph... They'll prove to be no match for me in the end..._ he ruminated before disappearing into thin air.

…

"Artemis! Shingo!" Ayato cried out in relief as soon as the two samurai had disembarked.

"Ayato!" the cat responded as he jumped up into the genius' arms.

"Thanks, Ayato," Zangetsu complimented as he approached his blue-haired friend. "You really saved our butts back there."

Tuxedo Mask looked back at the happy reunion. Her emotions just could not be read by any onlookers or passerby as long as she wore that white mask over her eyes. _This is where we part ways... until next time..._ she inwardly waved.

Honoo, his eyes closed in thought, had turned back to thank Tuxedo Mask for all her help... but... "Hey! Where'd Tuxedo Mask go?" he wondered. Everyone else present turned their heads to look at the driver's seat: sure enough, it was empty, as Tuxedo Mask had pulled yet another one of her disappearing acts.

"Well, I'd say that's par for the course at this point..." the golden samurai sweat-dropped.

"I see..." Honoo affirmed. "But there's one question that's been nagging me this whole time: what is this thing, and why was it so effective?" he asked, producing the coin that he had used earlier to sniff out the fake helper.

"That is the Medallion of Fire," Artemis explained. "It is a holy relic from the planet Mars, able to increase one's spiritual awareness."

"OK," the red samurai noted. "However, I don't need this to perform my fire readings. Perhaps I'll only use it when I absolutely need to."

"That's probably for the best," the white cat admitted.

"I guess it's a good thing we've got Honoo on our side, then, huh?" Zangetsu stated. He heard a mere sigh from Honoo as he made his way back to the shrine. "What's up?" the golden samurai asked.

"I'll see you at the shrine tomorrow after school," Honoo almost commanded.

"Huh? What for?" Zangetsu wondered.

"What else?" the red samurai responded, looking over his shoulder. "Training."

"Huh? Hey! Who died and made you leader?" Zangetsu demanded, getting into Honoo's private space.

"Well, I didn't see anyone else stepping up to the position!" Honoo shouted, getting so close in that the two's foreheads were touching each other.

"Listen, buddy! _I'M_ the leader around here!"

"Yeah? On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that I was the first to show up!"

"That doesn't mean anything! For all you know, I have better leadership potential than you!"

"Shove off!"

"No, _YOU_ shove off!"

"Grrrrrr..."

"Rrrrggghhh..."

Poor Ayato and Artemis could only helplessly look on as the two samurai continued to stare each other down. Hopefully, this would not be a recurring scene. But, one knows what one says about wishful thinking...

* * *

Shingo: Well, we have a new samurai in our ranks. Hoo... ray...

Ryu: What was that supposed to mean, moon-boy?

Shingo: Moon-boy? Why I oughta...

Ayato: Not now, you two! Jadeite's just sent out a personal challenge to face the three of us!

Shingo: Alright! Time to finally show him what we're made of!

Ryu: Hold on, you idiot! It's a trap!

Shingo: Next time, on Tsuki no Zangetsu: "Jadeite's Last Stand!" For the sake of the moon, I'll defeat you!

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry that this chapter took so long to write up! I had to really think about how to weave Rei's powers into this new universe, and I am rather pleased with the result. First, a few clarifications to get out of the way:

1) If one were to write Ryu's name in kanji, his given name would be the kanji used for "style"... that is, a martial arts style. In Japan, archery is not a sport, but rather a martial art. Considering that Ryu's armor is a color-altered version of the Armor of Tenkuu from Samurai Troopers, this makes a good deal of sense.

2) Rei's grandfather never received a name in any medium, so I decided to give him one. "Gennosuke" comes from character Prof. Gennosuke Yumi from Mazinger Z. Considering that Go Nagai created both Mazinger and Devilman (Rei's favorite manga in Takeuchi's original work), I thought it would be fitting. That, and it was the first name that popped into my head.

3) This is the second time the woman in white has shown up in Shingo's head. I will say that this is significant, just not how yet.

There are two new reviews that I'd also like to address before we get to the translation notes below. Xenite Trekker writes: _"I find that this was well done and I look forward to seeing more adventures of who I choose to call the 'Samurai Senshi' as opposed to Sailor Senshi..as a side note..a follow-up to this fanfic could have a cross-dimensional rip in which the Samurai Senshi actually meet the Sailor Senshi"_ First off, I do not have the right to force you to call my merry band of heroes by any particular name. However, I will note that my own personal preference is to call them "Samurai", nothing more, nothing less. As for the cross-over idea, I will admit that it's something that I have been lightly toying around with. Maybe sometime in the future, perhaps?

The second comes from one of my favorite writers, Kamen Rider Chrome (If you haven't read the likes of Rosario + Kiva or Love Hina Double Trouble, do yourself a favor and read them – they're that good): _"I see...so a Gender Bender story with Samurai Sensei instead of Sailor Senshi, huh? Wonder what else will happen to Shingo."_ It's alright to wonder or hypothesize about upcoming twists... though, if you know your Sailor Moon trivia, you may predict what's coming up anyways!

I hope you continue to read, review, and spread the word! Remember, nothing good comes out of being a maniac like myself!

T/N:

"Kasei" is the Japanese name for the planet Mars.

|A "Kannushi" is, if I'm not much mistaken, the male equivalent of a miko.

"Hi-Ya" roughly translates to "Flame Arrow".

A "Yomi" is an archery bow.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters associated with Sailor Moon, its creator, Naoko Takeuchi, or any of the animators or publishing companies. For the most part, this story is my own personal universe that just happens to use these characters.


	5. Jadeite's Last Stand

**Episode 5**: Jadeite's Last Stand

* * *

For 14-year-old Shingo Tsukino, his routine had changed for the relatively and decidedly strange. For example, his family had adopted a stray white cat that had taken a liking to the eldest child of the family. As far as the rest of the family knew, this cat was named Artemis. Also worth mentioning were his two newest companions, a genius prodigy named Ayato Mizuno and a priest known as Ryu Hino. What no one except those involved could possibly know was this: that the aforementioned cat could talk and that all three boys were secretly samurai – the golden Zangetsu, the aquatic Uzumaki, and the fiery Honoo – meant to protect the world from the onslaught of the Dark Kingdom.

After Honoo's awakening, Jadeite, their recurring nemesis, attempted to drain energy from park-goers, but seemed to get sloppy as these disappearances continued to be noticed by the public. While investigating, Ryu and Shingo found each other constantly embroiled in arguments over the smallest things, mainly because Ryu believed himself to be a better leader than the blonde, while Shingo thought that the priest was too overbearing and obnoxious for his own good. Eventually, the team was able to defeat the youma responsible, but that was still not the last they had seen of the evil organization.

The next plot was a little more sneaky, as it had taken place on a boat cruise of Tokyo Bay. Incidentally, Ryu had won tickets for that very cruise. Seeing as he did not have a girlfriend, he asked Ayato to accompany him, partly to spite Shingo. Out of both jealousy and curiosity, Shingo used his Kabuki powers to disguise himself as one of the crew. Onboard, Jadeite, disguised as the ship's captain, attempted to drain the energy of the passengers with another youma providing assistance. Unfortunately for the Shittenou, Zangetsu made a surprise guest appearance, creating such a distraction that both Ayato and Ryu were able to sneak away and don their armors in secret. Though the youma proved to be tougher than the others, it went down at the hands of the trio just the same.

Shingo couldn't help but notice that these plots had grown more and more elaborate, as though Jadeite was getting desperate. Whatever the case was, things would soon grow to critical mass...

* * *

To say that Jadeite was in trouble would be a grand exaggeration. The spotlight shone on him as Queen Beryl looked at him with disgust in her eyes. "Jadeite," she admonished, "You have collected a large amount of energy on Earth. Unfortunately, you also have a great many failures upon your head."

This rankled the once-great Shittenou. After all, how was he supposed to know that armored samurai would be dogging his every step? Hell, the last time they interfered, they killed one of Her Majesty's personal youma! Saying their constant trespassing in his plans were his own fault felt like an insult.

"First, Tsuki no Zangetsu, a warrior we had heard nothing about, appears in place of Sailor Moon. Now, he too has his own versions of Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars: Suisei no Uzumaki and Kasei no Honoo. Despite the great power at our command, you have yet to vanquish them," Queen Beryl ominously continued.

"Please, listen, my Queen...!" Jadeite began, fear showing in his eyes.

"I have had enough of your excuses!" the angry Queen interrupted; Jadeite stood silent. "You will go forth and kill the three Samurai that stand in our way! If you fail this last time, then you shall sleep forever more..." This pronouncement caused a shiver to run through the amassed crowd of youma; when she spoke like that, she could mean a punishment of Eternal Sleep, or much worse... "Jadeite," she continued, not noticing nor caring of the murmuring in the crowd, "I hope you understand the consequences of what I have just announced. Depending on how badly you perform, I might not be so forgiving as to give you the Eternal Sleep, for that is just one possibility open to me."

Jadeite took a couple of deep breaths, his hands shaking in fear, the terror remaining in his eyes...

* * *

Gazing upon the night sky...

"There's Cygnus..."

...were Shingo and Artemis, via the former's bedroom window...

"...Sagittarius..."

...and the boy had taken to pointing out the constellations to help pass the time.

"...Libra..." he continued, pointing out the formation of stars that signified that of the scales of legend. However, when looking upon the constellation of Cassiopeia, the woman, his mind drifted to two girls that currently occupied his thoughts. The first was the blonde woman in white. Ever since the incident at the Hikawa Temple, Shingo's dreams were constantly haunted by both her eyes and her request to "search" for something. He had no idea why he kept constantly dreaming about the woman. Was she perhaps some sort of mental image from a fairy tale he had been told? If so, why couldn't he remember clearly what story she came from?

The second was far easier to discern, as it concerned the enigma that was Tuxedo Mask. All throughout his adventures and battles, the mysterious cross-dressing woman kept intervening, protecting the samurai as they fought against the Dark Kingdom. Who was she really, and why would she go so far as to protect the three of them? Even that, her main motivation, was obscured from truth's light.

"Hmm?" the cat muttered. "Why'd you stop, Shingo?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, Artemis. Just thinking..." Shingo replied.

The boy gazed upon the night sky once more, unable to puzzle out the riddles that lay before him. The biggest problem was that he didn't have a clue how either the woman in white nor the woman with a mask were important to him.

After but a moment, an evil, sinister chuckle echoed throughout the surroundings. Shingo's eyes widened as the blasted visage of Jadeite shimmered in the night sky above.

"I am Jadeite!" the Shittenou thunderously announced to the people. "I hope you're listening... Tsuki no Zangetsu... Suisei no Uzumaki... Kasei no Honoo... I have grown weary of your continued existence, pests. Thus, I hereby issue a demand for formal combat. As for time and place, come to Haneda Airport at 1 AM tomorrow, specifically, Runway F. If you do not accede to my demands, well..." He snapped his fingers; in a flash of light, it seemed as though all of Tokyo had been set ablaze. Another snap from Jadeite's fingers returned everything to normal. "Relax, that was merely an illusion. But if you do not face me at the appointed time and place, I _will_ burn down the city of Tokyo for real! So choose wisely..." he threateningly added before disappearing, once more leaving the night skies clear.

Shingo and Artemis could only look at the stars in shock. In a mere day, all three Samurai had to meet Jadeite's demands or be faced with a massacre...

* * *

In almost no time, Shingo had contacted both Ayato and Ryu. Since the Hikawa Shrine was mostly hidden from the outside world and the only other person that could have conceivably stumbled onto their secrets was an old man, the trio had selected it as a permanent meeting location.

"I just know that Jadeite has more than enough power to carry out his threat to destroy Tokyo," Artemis fretted.

"So what do we do now?" the blonde asked aloud.

"I say we take the fight to him," Ryu proposed. "This is our chance to take out one of the enemy's ranking commanders."

"But this whole set-up must be a trap," Ayato reasoned. "Jadeite's not the type of person to fight fair."

Shingo made no noise, merely thinking to himself about the possibilities.

"It's a risk we'll have to take, Ayato," argued the priest. "How about you, Shingo?"

Shingo closed his eyes in thought.

"Shingo, your take matters just as much as mine. What's your opinion?" Ayato asked his friend.

Shingo's eyes remained closed, still deep in thought. "...Honestly, I don't know what to do," he finally said, his eyes open once more. "I know first-hand that Jadeite is not to be underestimated..."

Deep in the bowels of Shingo's mind, doubt about his skills and luck swirled, unbeknownst to the others...

* * *

It was morning in the Tsukino household as Kenji once again sat at the kitchen table having breakfast, listening carefully to the news over the radio.

"_Concerning the mysterious announcement last night, the Metropolitan Police have decided to regard the whole incident as some sort of elaborate prank intended to scare the populace with its utilization of strange images in the sky. However, the police are not taking the threat of arson very lightly, and plans are being made to assign police officers to the vicinity of Haneda Airport tomorrow night."_

* * *

"This is not good," Artemis whispered as he crouched behind Shingo: the latter was currently leaning against an open window in his classroom at school trying to listen to the former over all the usual din. "If the authorities attempt to intervene, they could very well get hurt." Shingo said nothing. "Hey, what's up?"

"I just don't know what we should do, Artemis," the boy sighed. "I mean, I know it's probably a trap, but there's no proof Jadeite actually has that kind of power. Don't get me wrong, I'm not scared of him... I'm just afraid of what'll happen if we get ourselves killed..."

"Hey, Shingo!" another voice called, forcing the white cat to vacate the premises. "What's your opinion on this whole arson thing?" It was Naru and the rest of her regular clique, Pochiya and Umino.

"I think it's some sort of prank, like they said on the news!" the chubby girl exclaimed.

"I think not!" Umino interrupted. "I declare that thing to be an alien! It was warning us corrupt beings that just so happen to inhabit this planet!"

"Umino," Naru face-palmed, "I think you've been reading too much sci-fi lately."

"Either way, it sounds like fun!" Pochiya assumed. "Why don't we all get together at the airport tonight to see what all the fuss is about?"

"Now hold on there!" Shingo interjected. "We don't know for sure that it's really a prank. Why don't we just all stay home and let the police do their job?"

"Mr. Tsukino has the right idea, for once," a new voice announced; it was Haruno-sensei. "Really, you should be ashamed of yourselves, thinking of breaking curfew!"

"Guys, going there is just not worth it. Stay home, it's too dangerous," the blonde warned.

"Why is it dangerous?" Pochiya innocently asked.

"Well... you see..." he mumbled.

"Mr. Tsukino," Haruno-sensei pressed, "do you happen to know anything about this?"

"No!" Shingo protested. "Besides, it's better to do something safer at night if you really want to, like homework, or studying for exams!"

"Shingo..." his teacher gaped, stepping forward. "This is the most serious you've been for all the time I've known you!" She then raised a hand to his forehead, as though trying to feel if it was hot. "No fever... Is there anything you want to talk about? I'm always here if you want to get something off your chest."

Silence then reigned for a few moments before Shingo's irritated facial expression popped into being. "You think it's strange for me to be worried about my friends?" he yelled. "Even I can be serious when I need to be!"

Everyone continued to stare at the irate blonde helplessly.

* * *

Motoki just laughed.

"You agree with me, don't you, Motoki?" Shingo asked. After school, Shingo headed down to the arcade, which was where the boy could always unload his burdens to the bright clerk; after all, the two were good friends.

"Of course I do. You and your teacher are right in trying to keep your classmates away from the airport tonight," he brightly and wisely stated. "Then again, it isn't really like you to agree with her in the first place."

"...huh?" was all Shingo could mutter.

"The Shingo Tsukino I know is too brash and confident most of the time to let an incident like this get him down," Motoki elaborated, gently placing a forefinger on the blonde's forehead.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" the boy angrily asked.

"Look, all I'm saying is that acting so deadly serious is just too out of character for you. Lighten up, live a little," the clerk sagely advised.

_Easy for you to say, Motoki,_ Shingo bitterly thought. _You have no idea how much is really at stake..._ "See you later, Motoki," he waved as he headed off for home. The boy closed his eyes as he walked down the street, his attention focused on his thoughts...

...which was not a very good idea, considering he had, soon enough, planted his face into a certain someone's ample cleavage.

"Well, isn't this a fine 'how-do-you-do'?" a snide, yet flirty, voice remarked. It only took Shingo a glance to realize that he had once more accidentally run into the Raven herself, which in itself usually meant humiliation.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" he demanded after he got himself some space.

"Well, I was miding my own business when a certain boy who wasn't looking where he was going decided to take a trip to Marshmallow Hell..." she responded. "...did that answer your question?"

"Grrr..." the boy grumbled. "That was an accident! And that's not the point! How come you show up all the time to make my life miserable?"

"How should I know?" she huffed, placing a hand to her head as though suffering from a migraine. "Jeez, why are boys nowadays so confrontational?"

"Hey, I'm a red-blooded male! Being confrontational is pretty much in character for me, or so I've been told," Shingo retorted.

"Well, whoever told you that must have been an idiot," the Raven snarkily responded.

"Lay off him! He happens to be a friend of mine!" he yelled.

"'Birds of a feather flock together...' Did I get that right... porcupine?" she returned.

At this point, steam was literally pouring out of the boy's ears, angry that the Raven was insulting one of his friends.

"I can take your names... and I can take your attitude... but the one thing I **cannot** overlook are insults to my friends! GET LOST!" Shingo shouted, muscling his way past the irritating woman and storming off in the process. Many of the on-lookers could only gape at the scene as it unfolded; who in their right minds would be so temperamental at this time of day, they wondered. The Raven could only look at where Shingo was once standing and blink in puzzlement.

* * *

As night fell, the police swarmed over Haneda Airport, on the lookout for the culprit of the previous night's events. Watchful eyes scanned over every nook and cranny of the complex; from the entrance, to the lobby, all the way to the boarding areas. Their vigilance was all for naught, however, as an intruder had mysteriously appeared out of thin air atop the air control tower, and the guards were none the wiser.

"I have no quarrel with gentlemen like yourselves..." the blonde, ice-eyed stranger quietly announced. "...have a nice nap..." With that, Jadeite thrust forward his left palm, arm outstretched, which summoned an odd mist. In no time at all, the guards' eyes drooped as they collapsed and slumped to the ground on which they once stood. The only man awake, the one who called forth the Mists of Slumber, stepped into the lobby to appreciate his work, chuckling sinisterly all the while. "I hope you're ready... Come, Samurai... and meet your end!"

* * *

"Faster, Shingo!" the priest yelled.

"I'm going as fast as I can, so don't you tell me what to do!" the blonde snapped back.

"We don't have time to be arguing among ourselves, guys!" Ayato mediated.

At present, all three of the boys and Artemis were racing up the stairs that led to the train for Haneda, desperate to get to their destination before time was up, and the city itself was razed to the ground. Everything stood silent... including, unfortunately, the train.

"Damn it, this was the fastest way to the airport!" Shingo pointed out.

"Looks like we're gonna have to get a taxi," Ryu suggested. No sooner than he had spoken those words, however, when the doors to the train mysteriously opened.

"What the-?" Shingo wondered.

"What's going on?" the white cat asked in confusion.

"From the looks of it, I'd say that our enemy is offering us a ride," the priest pointed out, starting to head inside. "I'm not gonna look this gift horse in the mouth, no matter how many Greeks it contains."

"Hey, hold up!" the blonde called out, he and the genius following not too close behind. When the entire party had entered the compartment, a sudden noise caught their attention; one quick look told all of them that the doors had closed, while a slight rumble and lurch was indicative of the fact that the train had started moving; it seemed as though they were expected. On and on the train went, the three boys staring out the window, watching the city-scape scroll by.

"Call it a hunch," Artemis piped up after a while, "but I think that we're just falling deeper into his trap."

_Trap or not,_ Shingo told himself, taking a quick glance at his cat, _we still don't have any choice in the matter. I won't let that monster of a man hurt my friends._

* * *

When the train reached Haneda Airport, the boys and cat rushed up the stairs into the sub-lobby; they peeked around the corner to see the police still standing in position.

"Didn't expect to see this many policemen on duty at once," the blonde remarked in wonder.

"Nothing's happened yet, thank the Gods," Ryu observed.

"Nevertheless, we should still be on our guard; we never know what might happen," Ayato cautioned. Unfortunately for the three, however, two shadows that looked like policemen had snuck up on them...

…_!_ "I sense bloodlust!" Ryu cried out; it was extremely fortunate that the priest had managed to sense the danger in time. Shingo and Ayato cast quick glances at their unforetoseen attackers, and both reacted in an instant: Shingo elbowed the one behind him in the gut while Ayato rammed the back-side of his heel into his assaulter's crotch. Both men gave off groans as they fell to the ground, with one being more high-pitched and squeaky than the other.

"Ouch..." Shingo noted in a constrained voice. "Ayato, did you really have to go for the joy department?"

"I didn't have time to think," Ayato reasoned in a low tone. "I just... moved..."

"Yeah, well," the priest pointed out (delivering a haymaker to a third policeman), "a few more 'reactions' like that might give us a little more help."

"Maybe, but... why are the police attacking us?" the blonde pondered.

"No time! This way!" Ryu ordered as he ran off into the complex. Shingo and Ayato followed, and it was not long before more officers began chasing them.

_Damn it, what's with these guys?_ The blonde thought furiously as he ran. _Aren't the police supposed to "protect and serve"? Last I checked, it wasn't "maim and murder"!_

* * *

EYECATCH

* * *

The officers chased the trio of boys onto the runway itself, the former groaning like zombies all the while. Neither of the three, nor the cat accompanying them, bothered to look back for quite some time. It wasn't until Ayato turned around that he noticed something.

"Something's off about them... I don't like it..." the genius muttered. "No choice, then... KUCHIRIKATABIRA!" In a flash, light enveloped his body, the lightly-armored cyber-suit now his main garb. "BUSOU! SUISEI!" he then yelled, summoning the shattering scrolls that equipped the Suisei no Yoroi to his Kuchirikatabira. When the spotlight shone, the armor's faceplate closed over his mouth, showing nothing but those brilliant water-blue eyes of his.

"Let's do this!" Ryu exclaimed, his passion for battle burning. "KUCHIRIKATABIRA! BUSOU! KASEI!" Once more, the scrolls burst into sakura petals; Ryu, in the spotlight, wore the flaming-red Kasei no Yoroi, complete with mouth-concealing faceplate.

"Great, leave the most magnificent for last..." the blonde muttered as the zombie-like guards watched on helplessly. "KUCHIRIKATABIRA! BUSOU! TSUKI!" Once more, Shingo gathered a ball of energy, which crackled in ferocity. In his mind's eye, he saw the golden Tsuki no Yoroi in a sitting position. With a grunt of effort, he held the ball of energy out in front of him as scrolls unfurled around his body. As they soared ever higher, Shingo continued to concentrate, and at their apex, they turned into petals of light and elegantly fell to the ground.

As they did so, some of the petals swirled around Shingo's legs, soon solidifying into armored greaves. The same thing happened to Shingo's arms, forming gauntlets. The body armor soon followed, and, with a mass of light petals in hand, Shingo lifted his right arm, and in a flash of light, they turned into a helmet, which he then placed onto his own head. As soon as he did so, a metal faceplate closed over the lower half of his face, obscuring his mouth and part of his nose from view.

All three having donned their armors, an orange visor lowered from the brim of Uzumaki's helmet, which began to display computer readouts. His scanner fed the information to his pocket computer, which all but confirmed his suspicions.

"They're not human..." the blue samurai announced. "They're nothing more than Haniwa!"

"Haniwa...?" Zangetsu questioned. "You lost me..."

"Haniwa were clay soldiers that were buried along with respected nobles during the feudal era," Honoo explained. "They were meant to guard the deceased on their journey to the Sanzu River. ...do you not pay attention in history class?" he added in response to the golden samurai's blank look.

"Now's not the time for this, you two!" Uzumaki added, seeing that his two friends were about to get into one of their usual shouting matches.

"In any case, now that we know they're not human," Honoo went on, summoning his bow into existence, "that means we can blow 'em away without a second thought! HI..." the crimson samurai cried, placing the notch on his glowing arrow into the string of his bow. "YA!" He let the arrow fly after aiming it at the group of Haniwa; its head struck true, flames spreading to the others in the group. Within moments, and with a low groan, the haniwa were reduced to cinders. Honoo merely nodded at the cinders; Zangetsu and Uzumaki did the same. For a while, they stared at the smoldering remains of the Haniwa... until a loud, harsh laugh drew their eyes up to the Air Control tower; standing there in full view was Jadeite.

"Tsuki no Zangetsu, Suisei no Uzumaki, Kasei no Honoo! I must thank you for that wonderful show, considering that I now know who you really are!" he crowed; three samurai plus one white cat gazed upon him in shock.

"Not good, not good, not good...!" the golden samurai muttered in worry.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to remember you from time to time with a glass of wine," he snidely boasted. "Because today... you die!"

_Die...?_ Shingo thought to himself. _I'm... gonna die? Me?_

"It will be a pleasant day on the Sanzu River indeed the day I die!" the red samurai retorted. "But if I'm going to die here, I might as well take you along for the ride!"

"He's right!" Uzumaki echoed. "We were entrusted with a mission. Our deaths here would further our cause if necessary, but we still have the will to live!"

"So... you're prepared to die..." Jadeite pronounced. "In that case... perhaps you wouldn't mind if I served as your ferryman to the River Styx!" He closed his eyes, concentrating on one of the airfield's many jumbo jets lying unused. Reaching out with his mind, Jadeite took control of it and mentally directed it towards the samurai.

"I must be dreaming... I must be..." Zangetsu muttered. "Somebody, pinch me..."

"There'll be time for that later!" Artemis commanded. "RUN!"

All three samurai plus cat did an immediate about-face and started running as fast as their legs could carry them. However, as they passed a second plane, it too turned to run them down.

"Aww, come on! You gotta be kidding me!" Zangetsu cried out as the team came to a halt.

"Maybe if I use my Hi-Ya..." Honoo pondered.

"If you blow one of those up," the white cat argued, "then we risk drawing in unarmed civilains, no matter what the police's standing orders are!"

"Well, that's true..." Zangetsu nodded.

"I didn't even consider that..." the red samurai paled.

"Then there's only one option left remaining," Uzumaki noted.

"And what would that be?" Honoo queried.

"WE RUN!" the blue samurai shouted, racing down the runway as fast as he could; the others quickly joined him, being chased by both planes all the while.

"Goddamnit...!" shouted Zangetsu. "Of all the ways to go out, I never thought it'd be at the hands OF A FREAKING JUMBO JET!"

"Guys, I hate to tell you this..." Honoo yelled, "but... END OF THE ROAD!" And indeed, it was, as there was nothing but sea on the horizon. With nowhere left to run, the three were forced to halt. They turned around.

Jadeite triumphantly laughed in the distance. "Fare thee well, samurai!" However, something flashed before his eyes, somehow terminating his control over the jumbo jets. Without his guiding hand, they came to an immediate stop.

"What the...?" the boys all wondered aloud.

"Only the worst of scum bullies schoolchildren," a feminine voice called out; it was her rose, after all.

"I should have known you'd show up, Tuxedo Mask," Jadeite ruefully admitted, turning around. "I'll make sure that you enjoy Hell just as much as those three will!"

"I think not," Tuxedo Mask countered, revealing herself from the shadows. "After all, the weakest dog barks the loudest. Deceitful men such as you shall always get what's coming."

"Tuxedo Mask!" Zangetsu cried out in relief, spotting her up on the tower where she was staring Jadeite down.

"About time she showed up!" Honoo complained, but it was mostly bluster at this point.

The two stared each other down for a moment. Yelling, "Die!" Jadeite fired lightning from his fingers; Tuxedo Mask gracefully leaped into the air to avoid it. Jadeite followed, hopping from building to structure. He eventually caught up to her. In a tackle initiated by Jadeite, he and Tuxedo Mask fell, entangled, into the water their brief clash had taken them to.

"Tuxedo Mask!" Zangetsu shouted in fear; the three samurai ran up to the water to provide assistance. Before their very eyes, a single red rose floated up to the surface. Fear and dread immediately filled their eyes as Jadeite telekinetically lifted himself out of the water, hovering in mid-air.

"What'd you do to Tuxedo Mask?" Honoo bravely demanded.

"That won't quite matter in a moment..." Jadeite gloated as he floated back behind the trio, landing on the tarmac as light as a feather. "...because you're about to join her! After all, you're nothing compared to that woman!"

"Shut up..." Zangetsu growled.

"What's the matter?" the evil blonde taunted with an evil laugh. "Did you have some sort of crush on her or – "

Jadeite was suddenly cut off when the golden samurai instantly filled his vision. It was so quick that he didn't have time to put up his force field. "I said..." Zangetsu commanded rearing his fist back – "...shut UP!" – then delivered a devastating uppercut to the man's chin. Jadeite was sent soaring into the air; when he crashed to the ground, struggling to get back up, blood seeped from his lower lip. "She gave her life to help us... to protect us!" Zangetsu lectured. "Yet you insist on trivializing her death! If there is one thing we must not do, it is to belittle death. It speaks ill of us to speak ill of the dead."

"You barely even knew her," Jadeite countered. "You hardly even know what death is like! How can you, one who not yet has blood on his hands, know what it's like?"

"I know more than you could possibly understand!" Zangetsu roared back. "It weighs heavily on our minds, death. We all know it will come for us one day. For instance, maybe it's my time to die tonight. It takes a certain special quality to acknowledge and move forward despite death staring us in the eye. A quality that I know I have right at this very moment. The quality known as courage!"

"I see..." the Shitennou muttered, wiping the blood from his lip. "And just where does this bravado come from? Certainly not that warrior woman, I can tell you that much."

"Isn't it obvious?" Zangetsu rhetorically asked as he spread his arms wide, gesturing to his two comrades. "It's my friends. Just as I look out for them, they look out for me."

"That's right," Uzumaki agreed. "He helped me to open up to other people. I'm still shy, but no longer am I without friends!"

"And without that boy," Honoo chimed in, "I would just be a cold, cynical loner. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a friend, but there is no denying the fact that he has had a profound effect on me!"

"As long as we remain friends, our courage knows no bounds! But you, Jadeite... you prefer to stand alone, hiding behind disposable minions or underhanded tactics. Such things are the signs of a coward!"

"You dare..." Jadeite threateningly whispered, "...call me a coward?"

"Yes, I dare!" Zangetsu claimed. "It's people like you that are the cause of all the sorrows in the world. And it's people like you... that don't deserve to know our real names!"

With that, the fierce battle began. All three samurai had summoned their weapons while Jadeite materialized a large, cruel-looking curved saber from thin air. Thrust, riposte, parry... Jadeite continued scoring glancing blows on the three, trying to divide and conquer. And yet, every time he tried to do so, one of the others would come interfere in order to keep that from happening: Honoo would shoot an arrow as a distraction while Uzumaki snuck up for a killing blow. Jadeite would sense his presence and dodge in time, inadvertently moving into range of Zangetsu's Daisharin, which he wielded with ferocity. _How...?_ Jadeite furiously thought to himself as his frustration mounted throughout the battle. _How can they work together like that to put me on the defense? They're just schoolchildren!_

"NOW!" Zangetsu suddenly shouted, surprising Jadeite.

"HIDEN..." came a loud war-cry from behind the villain; as he whirled around, Jadeite saw Uzumaki raise his glowing Jumonji-Yari into the air. "...KASUMI!"

Before Jadeite could even move to stop him, Uzumaki slammed the shaft of his weapon into the tarmac, releasing the infernal mist that had beguiled many a youma. As he looked around, the shapes of the samurai disappeared one by one. _Where'd they go?_ Jadeite wondered as he continued looking in the mist. After a short while, a faint noise reached his ears... a familiar noise. _It can't be... No!_ he realized as one of the planes he had taken over came screaming for him. The noise only intensified as two more joined the first. _Why are they chasing ME now?_ Jadeite furiously and inwardly asked as he ran out of range of the Hiden Kasumi. As he looked over his shoulder again, he saw the three samurai, each perched on top of a different plane... and each plane had a strip of paper that read "Begone, Evil Spirit" in Japanese attatched to the windshields of the cockpits.

"It's over, Jadeite," Zangetsu called out coldly, his gigantic throwing blade glowing alight. "You lose. GEKKOU DAISHARIN!" With great force, the golden samurai threw the blade at the Shittenou, his eyes widened in fear... but before the blow connected, Jadeite suddenly disappeared. With a quick gesture, Honoo brought the planes to a halt.

"He got away again!" Zangetsu cried in frustration.

"No, I think this time was different," Uzumaki theorized. "To me, it seemed like the transport was a little forced, and I don't think he was in a state of sound mind to be retreating in such a fashion, anyway."

"But if that's the case..." Honoo questioned, "then who teleported him out?"

All three humans and cat fell silent as they looked at the spot where Jadeite had stood not but a moment ago.

* * *

In a flash of violet light, Jadeite reappeared in Queen Beryl's throne room, ragged and exhausted. He looked up, locking his sights on the furious queen's eyes. "M-My queen..." he stuttered, staggering forward. "I... thank you for-"

"I did not bring you back here out of the kindness of my heart," she sniped. "You had the gall to lose in a direct confrontation with the samurai. You've just squandered you last chance."

"P-Please wait, my queen!" Jadeite fearfully pleaded. "I... I have new information regarding the samurai! I know who-"

"ENOUGH!" Queen Beryl roared, shooting a white light from the orb of her scepter at the disgraced general.

"Please! Let me ex-!" Those were Jadeite's last words as his entire body was transformed into crystal. The subjects gathered around Queen Beryl's throne were left muttering, as they expected her to sentence Jadeite to the Eternal Sleep. The Eternal Sleep typically encased its victim in a much larger crystal, not turn them _into_ one.

It was then that the most astonishing thing happened: the queen lifted herself off of her throne, grasping her scepter tightly in her left hand. Calmly, she glided down the steps towards Jadeite's crystalized form. Without so much as a warning, she stabbed the sharp shaft of her staff into the statue's midsection. Cracks started to form from the point of impact. With one last withering glance, Beryl removed the scepter from the crystal, then turned around to walk back up the steps to her throne. As she did so, the crystalized Jadeite was overcome with growing fissures, shattering completely soon after. The fragments and crystal dust fell into a pile on the floor, whereupon the Shittenoh's remains vanished without a trace.

All were shocked into silence, for their queen had given Jadeite a fate worse than that of the Eternal Sleep. Despite the name, the Eternal Sleep was not impossible to break, if one's magical potential was high enough and strong enough. The Crystal Death, which Jadeite had just succumbed to, was a far more permanent sentence. As the name implied, the victim was first transformed into a crystal statue. The caster would then shatter the statue, killing the victim in the proccess. What made the Crystal Death so dreaded was the fact that the crystal separated the victim's soul from the cycle of death and rebirth, and death in such a crystallized state essentially removed the possibility of them being revived or reincarnated. It was complete and utter destruction of body and soul.

"I hope you will not fail me like he did," Queen Beryl announced to the shadows after she had returned to her throne. "After all, his duties are now yours."

"You need not worry," a deep and suave male voice answered back from them, his eyes glowing red. "Jadeite was merely a fool. You have only to leave matters in my hands, and I shall provide the master with the energy she desires..."

* * *

The three samurai looked upon the stretch of water that Tuxedo Mask and Jadeite had fallen into.

"Tuxedo Mask," Zangetsu eulogized, "we may not have known each other for very long, but we were grateful for your assistance."

"I'm sure she would be grateful," Artemis noted, "but the only thing we can do for her now is to keep fighting the Dark Kingdom in her place."

"I know," the golden samurai answered back.

"Actually, I believe that rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," a feminine voice from behind the small group announced. The three turned around, and saw Tuxedo Mask, alive, well, and none the worse for wear.

"Tuxedo Mask," Zangetsu asked of her, "how did you survive?"

"Trade secret, I'm afraid," she responded.

"In that case," Uzumaki piped up, "why do you always come to assist us?"

"And while you're at it," Honoo added, "you mind telling us who you really are?"

"Sorry, but I cannot reveal my identity yet," Tuxedo Mask apologized. "As for your second question, it is my duty to assist whenever I can. No more, and no less."

She then turned around and walked away, cape fluttering in the wind. "Tsuki no Zangetsu," she called out, "Suisei no Uzumaki. Kasei no Honoo. Continue to value the bonds of friendship that you have forged. Until we meet again!" With that, she disappeared into thin air, and the three samurai knew that it was useless trying to pursue her. At the very least, Tuxedo Mask's enigmatic departure only left their questions unanswered, with only the promise that their questions would be answered one day. But... when would that day come...?

* * *

Ayato: Hey, Shingo, have you heard about that new millionare that just came into town?

Shingo: Who...?

Ryu: His name is Masato Sanjouin, and I've heard that he's a master socialite.

Shingo: Whatever, I'm busy with Naru doing something- wait, did that tennis racquet just turn into a youma? And who are you, tall, dark and gruesome?

?: The instrument of your demise. What else would I be?

Shingo: Oh boy. Next time, on Tsuki no Zangetsu: "Game, Set, Match! The Threat of Nephrite"! For the sake of the moon, I'll defeat you!

* * *

A/N: My god, I am sooooo sorry for being late with this chapter! I've had all sorts of real-life things happening to me ever since the last update, not to mention the fact that I've published two new fanfics in the interim. If you're wondering where Samurai #4 is, that will be a while yet.

A couple of comments: to me, putting a character into a coma, or an over-glorified one, just seems like a "writer's trap-door", or a way for the writer to bring the character back should they need them again. However, since Jadeite never showed back up in the anime, I felt justified in killing him off deader than dead. Plus, it has the bonus effect of showing that Queen Beryl DOES NOT just mess around. As for how the boys got the plan together so quickly without talking to one another, they just communicated telepathically using those kanji symbols that I showed you a glimpse of last chapter. Thoughts tend to be lightning-fast, so it didn't take too long for them to plan it all out.

Anyways, I will update when I am able, so I'm not making any promises on when the next chapter will be up. Remember, don't be a maniac: that's a sure way to end up behind bars one day! (J/K)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters associated with Sailor Moon, its creator, Naoko Takeuchi, or any of the animators or publishing companies. For the most part, this story is my own personal universe that just happens to use these characters.


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